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WORKS ISSUED BY 



XLhc IbaMu^t Society. 



STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE 
VOL. II. 



SECOND SERIES. 
No. XXVII. 



ISSUED FOR 191 1. 



COUNCIL 



THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. 



Albert Gray, Esq., K.C., President. 

The Right Hon. The Lord Belhaven and Stenton, Vice-President. 

Sir Clements Robert Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., Vice-President. 

The Right Hon. The Lord Peckover of Wisbech, Vice-President. 

Thomas B. Bowring, Esq. 

Colonel Charles Frederick Close, C.M.G., R.E. 

Bolton Glanvill Corney, Esq., I.S.O. 

Major Leonard Darwin, late R.E., Pres. R.G.S. 

William Foster, Esq. 

The Right Hon. Sir George Taubman Goldie, K.C.M.G., D.C.L., 

LL.D., F.R.S. 
F. H. H. Guillemard, M.D. 
Edward Heawood, Esq., Treasurer. 
John Scott Keltie, LL.D. 

Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham, K.C.B. 
Alfred P. Maudsi.ay, Esq. 
Admiral of the Fleet The Right Hon. Sir Edward Hobart 

Seymour, G.C.B., O.M. 
Basil Harrington Soulsby, Esq. 
H. R. Tedder, Esq. 

Lieut. -Colonel Sir Richard Carnac Temple, Bart., CLE. 
Basil Home Thomson, Esq. 
Roland Venables Vernon, Esq. 

J. A. J. DE ViLLiERS, Esq., Hon. Secretary. 



24 — 2 



STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE 



THE RISE 



OF 



BRITISH GUIANA 



COMPILED FROM HIS DESPATCHES 



BY 



C. A. HARRIS, C.B., C.M.G., 

CHIEF CLERK, COLONIAL OFFICE, 
AND 

J. A. J. DE VILLIERS, 

OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 



VOL. II. 



LONDON : 
PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY 

1911 



CTambrilige : 

PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. 
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 



P LIBRARY 

., _ miVERSii V OF CALIFORNU 

^7^3 SAISTA BARBARA 



EXTRACTS 

FROM THE 

DESPATCHES WRITTEN BY 
LAURENS STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE 

TO THE 

DIRECTORS OF THE ZEELAND CHAMBER 
OF THE WEST INDIA COMPANY 



P.R.O. 470/174 

May 2, 1760. 
(Extract) 

I am in receipt of Your Honours' letter of the 
3rd December last\ and since there has been no oppor- 
tunity of writing you prior to the departure of the 
" Essequibo Welvaeren," I have now the honour to 
discharge that duty, and will speak of the matter of 
Cuyuni. 

I trust and doubt not that Their High Mightinesses 
will obtain proper satisfaction for an act that is so entirely 
contrary to the law of nations, and I can very well under- 
stand that the death of the King of Spain must delay the 
settlement of the matter. 

I have very little to add to what I have already had 
the honour of submitting to YY, HH. in several of my 
despatches, and although I am aware, as YY. HH. are 
pleased to inform me, that no Treaties have been made 
which decided that the dividing boundary in South 
America should run inland in a direct line from the sea- 
coast, as is the case with the English in North America, it 
still appears to me {salvo meliori) to be an irrefutable fact 
that the rivers themselves, which have been in the possession 
of YY. HH. for such a large number of years, and have been 
inhabited by subjects of the States without any or the least 

* See note, p. 362. 

24—5 



374 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

opposition on the part of the Spanish, are most certainly 
the property of YV. HH. I am strengthened in my view of 
this matter by the fact that Cuyuni is not a separate river 
like Weyne and Pomeroon (which last has been occupied 
by us, and still contains the foundations of Your Honours' 
fortresses^), but an actual part of the River Essequibo 
itself, which is divided into three arms about 8 to lo miles 
above Fort Zeelandia, and about one long cannon shot 
below Fort Kijkoveral, and to each of which the Indians give 
a separate name — the first Cuyuni, the second Massaruni 
(in which is Kijkoveral), and the third Essequibo — the 
principal stream below this division being called not 
Essequibo but Araunama by the Arawaks, the real 
aborigines of this country. 

Although I do not doubt that YY. Hll. will now have 
received the map compiled by M. d'Anville, I have, in 
order to make the matter clear, copied that part of the 
map which relates to our possessions, and filled in with as 
much precision as possible the sites of Your Honours' 
plantation of " Duynenburg," situated partly in Massaruni 
and partly in Cuyuni. In Cuyuni I have marked Your 
Honours' coffee and indigo plantations, the dwelling-place 
of the half-free Creoles (to which the Spaniards came very 
close), the Blue Mountains, and the Post which was sacked, 
together with the sites of Your Honours' three other Posts 
in Maroco, Maykouny, and Arinda, up in Essequibo. 

This copy I have the honour to inclose-. 

I am well aware, YY. HH., that to undertake measures 
of reprisal a distinct order from the Sovereign is necessary, 
and I should be very careful not to take upon myself any- 
thing of the kind. Although the appearance of some such 

^ Concerning the early settlements on the Pomeroon, see pp. 14-19, 
20-2 1 . 

'^ It was, however, forgotten, and not really sent until A/an/i, ij6i 
(see p. 382). 



DESPATCHES 375 

threat is contained in my letter to the Commandant of 
Orinoco, it has never entered my head to proceed to such 
extremities, because even in a case of the utmost emergency 
I should shudder to employ the cruelties indulged in by the 
Carib nation. I only wished to show the Commandant 
what we could do if we were forced to it, and His Honour 
is well aware that what I told him is the truth. 



P.R.O. 471/3 

July 31, 1760. 
(Extract) 

Having had the honour to write to YY. HH. circum- 
stantially by "Het Essequebo Welvaeren " this will be very 
short, the more so since it has pleased the Almighty to lay 
His hand very heavily upon me, for I have had intermittent 
burning fever and insufferable headache ; this has now 
changed to cold fever, but has left me very weak. I did 
not think I should ever have the honour to write to YY. HH. 
again and had already sent to Mr Spoors asking him to 
take the command. I am now, thank God, somewhat 
better, but am compelled to take advantage of an interval 
of respite to write this letter. 



I'.R.O. 471/8 

Demerara, October 24, 1760. 
(Extracts) 

I have been obliged to send a detachment of four of 
the best soldiers to the Post of Maroco as quickly as 
possible because the Spaniards are beginning to put their 



376 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

horns out again. Besides a fine boat belonging to Mr 
Persik, and used only for trade (to which, therefore, no 
blame attaches), they have also taken five canoes belonging 
to this Colony which were engaged in salting ; on their 
way back they also took some canoes on this side of 
Barima, and thus within the Honourable Company's 
territory \ Amongst these was the canoe of " Aechte- 
kerke" and that of " Duynenburg"- — a brand new one 
out on its first journey. They also threatened to deal 
with the Post in Maroco ere long in the same way as 
they had done with that in Cuyuni. I have given the 
Postholder instructions that in case such a thing should 
happen he was to defend the Post with his subordinate 
Indians to the last man, and I also made the necessary 
arrangements for an effectual defence. 

To what will this lead, YY. nil.? If such acts of 
violence are not stopped, what will the results be ? The 
River Cuyuni is still unguarded, and presents an easy road 
to fugitive slaves. I have not yet re-established the Post 
there, always hoping that the matter might receive redress 
in Europe. I could not act in the matter without using 
violence, and this I would not do without special orders. 

It being presumed that the taking of the boats was 
really the work of the Spaniards who came up this river 
with tobacco and other commodities, I have, at the request 

* The Company's reply to this was dated March i6, 1761^ and ran : — 
"The new outrages of the Spaniards in seizing the boat of Mr Persik 
and the five canoes, which were busy salting, have greatly surprised 
us ; but we could have wished that you had transmitted to us circum- 
stantial and sworn declarations of all this, so that, acting upon these, 
we might have made the necessary remonstrances to the States- 
General about that matter. We shall still hope to receive these, and 
the earlier the better, together with the reasons why you deem that 
everything which has happened on this side of Barima must be 
deemed to have occurred on territory of the Company ; in order that, 
when we shall have examined all this, we may take further resolution 
as to what it behoves us to do in this matter." 



DESPATCHES 377 

of Mr Spoors, supported by the principal inhabitants, sent 
an order to the Post to let no Spaniards pass this way on 
any account whatever, except a single one who might be 
the bearer of letters from the Government. 

I have for a long time had the intention to write to 
YY. HH. regarding the old decrepit slaves on Your Honours' 
plantations, but the matter has repeatedly slipped from my 
memory by reason of the various things that crop up ; I 
will now, whilst I think of it, take the liberty of alluding 
briefly to it. 

The linen, hats, caps and other things which YY. HH. 
are good enough to send each year are just sufficient, and 
only barely so, to give the able-bodied slaves their annual 
share according to custom, so that the old ones get nothing 
at all. 

Is it not indeed hard. Your Honours, that these old 
people (whose number is fairly large), having spent their 
younger years in working for the Honble. Co., should, 
when they have grown old and weak, be driven, like old 
horses (as it were), naked and uncared for, from pillar to 
post } Of rations too they have no share and are obliged 
to live upon the mercy of their children and friends, who 
have not too much themselves. I am convinced that 
YY. HH. are unaware of this, for I am sure Your Honours' 
Christian spirit would not tolerate such a state of things, 
and I doubt not that YY. HH. will give the matter gracious 
consideration. 

Manager Munk (and he is the only one who has pity 
upon them) does sometimes sell a hogshead of bread, when 
he can spare it, for thirty or forty ells of Osnaburgh linen, 
which he then divides among those old folks, but that does 
not nearly suffice. 

It is true that it would cost the Honble. Co. something 
more annually, but I doubt not that the blessing of the 



378 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Lord, Who never leaves good deeds unrewarded, would 
richly repay that. 



P.R.O. 471/7 

Demerara, November 20, 1760. 
(Extract) 

Mr G. Clarke, Sen., has arrived here from Barbados 
after a voyage of four weeks with a very big vessel which 
is computed to hold about a thousand hogsheads of sugar. 
It was his intention to load the vessel here, if possible, and 
send it to Zeeland, but it having been represented to him 
that " Het Loo " was hourly expected and that it was still 
impossible to load two such big vessels at once he changed 
his mind and is sending the ship to Philadelphia, at which 
I am very pleased. 

The aforesaid gentleman has asked my permission to 
have a church built at his own cost at the spot marked out 
for a village, and as I have granted it the work will be 
commenced at once. I shall have some houses built there 
too, so that the work will soon be in full swing. His 
Honour being also very desirous of having a road made 
from here to Essequibo and having offered to contribute 
400 guilders towards it this matter too, which has been so 
long upon the tapis, will be put into execution. 



P.R.O. 471/ 1 1 

December 17, 1760. 
(Extract) 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

Having but recently had the honour of writing 
to YY. HH. circumstantially by "De Jonge Abraham," Capt. 
R. Robberts, which left Demerara on the 23rd November 
last, I have on this occasion very little to report worthy of 
Your Honours' attention. 



DESPATCHES 379 

Immediately after the departure of the said vessel I set 
out for Essequibo and had a very bad voyage, the waves, 
dashing over the boat several times, leaving me wet through 
from head to foot and sitting up to my knees in water ; 
after having been nine hours under way (though the 
journey is generally performed in four) I reached Mr 
Steward's plantation " Zorgvliet," where I changed into 
dry clothes. 

A warship having arrived to fetch Mr Clarke^ he is on 
the point of departure and is coming to dine with me 
to-morrow and say good-bye. All the gentlemen with 
him, including even the captain^ of the warship, are 
extremely pleased with Demerara and are all desirous 
of buying or laying out plantations there. They have 
pressed me earnestly to beg YY. HH. to send a preacher 
to Demerara who shall, if possible, be acquainted with 
Dutch and English', since the English are in the majority 
and very many respectable people are about to establish 
themselves there. 

Upon my return from Demerara I found Mr Spoors 
better and free from fever, but I fear it will be some time 
before he is restored to perfect health, for in my opinion 
he is far from being as he should be. He set out for his 
plantation yesterday. 

The fever epidemic is now on the wane with the 
beginning of the rainy season and very few have died 
through it ; of the whites I know of none other than the 
wife of Mr J. van Roden. 

The pain in my right shoulder is as great as ever and 
the journey from Demerara has not done it much good ; 
I can write only with great trouble and at intervals, which 
is very annoying, as I must write almost daily, and my 

1 Cf. p. 378. 

2 Captain Robert Douglas (see p. 391). 

3 This question had already been mooted in VJJ (see p. 292). 



38o STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

son-in-law, the Commandant^ who assists me a great deal, 
has had to stay in Demerara to measure some plantations 
and to mark the village boundaries, as Mr Clarke is pushing 
that matter forward. 

The coffee crop in Demerara is exceptionally good this 
year and far beyond expectations ; there will be a yield of 
no less than double the estimated quantity, so that if the 
weather permits of the cleaning " Het Loo" will take a 
considerable shipment. 

That vessel is anxiously awaited ; there are no ships 
arriving from North America, for most of them fall into 
the hands of the French, so that there is a dearth of 
everything in the Colony. The last cod was sold some 
months ago at sixpence per pound and a barrel of blubber, 
containing a little over half an awm^ at ninety-six guilders ; 
the fishery, too, being now stopped by the Spaniards one 
hardly knows which way to turn to find food for the slaves. 



P.R.O. 471/19 

March 18, 1761. 
(Extracts) 

The vessels " Het Loo " and " Essequebo Welvaeren," 
which set out from Zeeland together but were not within 
sight of each other the whole voyage, anchored off Deme- 
rara on the same day after a favourable passage and 
subsequently entered that river, since in the pilot's opinion 
they were both too fully laden to come in here. 

The simultaneous arrival of those two big ships will 
probably give rise to some difficulty in loading them, but 

1 van Bercheyck, Commander (not Commandant) of Demerara 
(see p. 335) ; Storm frequently confounds the two titles. His second 
daughter was not married to Commandant Bakker until iy66. 

2 An awm was equal to about 40 gallons. 



DESPATCHES 38 1 

I think there will be cargo enough to get them both off in 
due time. 

The letters to the Courts not yet being opened I will 
say nothing of the proposed mill on the " Duynenburg " 
plantation, except that YY. HH. would not be the first in 
the Colony to erect a windmill, one having been put up 
already long since upon the plantation "Nieuw Walcheren" ; 
it was demolished, not because it was of no use, but because 
Mr Clarke removed the whole plantation to Demerara, 
having been impelled to this through the ill condition of 
the soil. It is now called " Het Loo" there and has a 
water-mill, since, being situated too far up the river, a 
windmill would not work ; Mr Daniel Steward has, how- 
ever, now erected a windmill upon his plantation "Dundee." 

I should indeed have been careful about recommending 
such a mill to YY. HH. if I had not seen and examined 
some and was morally convinced that they yielded good 
results and were more advantageous than others. 

I perceive. Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, that 
although I have now had the honour to serve the Honble. 
Co. with all possible fidelity, zeal and attention for already 
more than twenty-three years and am the oldest in 
command in Your Honours' service or that of private 
companies, I am not yet regarded as being what I have 
always tried to be, namely (and with modesty be it said), 
the most faithful and zealous servant of the Company, who 
has never from selfish or other motives lost sight of the 
true interest and welfare of the Honble. Co. and the 
Colony. 

The approval of my efforts and conduct, which YY. HH. 
are pleased to accord me, is certainly the greatest honour 
at which I can aim and for which my deepest gratitude is 
due and shall all my life be shown, but it is nevertheless 
hard for an honest man who does all in his power to treat 



382 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

everyone in a friendly and propitious manner and gives 
himself so much trouble to bring the Colony into a 
flourishing condition to find that his secret and undeserved 
enemies, whom he has endeavoured to win over by all 
gentle means, do all in their power to blacken him in 
secret and crafty ways, nay, even to ruin him, if they 
could. Of this I have, alas ! but all too many proofs in 
my private letters, so that I may justly and with pain 
repeat what I already said some years ago : — 

Et Liber Pater Castorque Polbixqiie 

Post ingentia facta, &c. 

P lor aver e stiis nan resp07idere favorem speratum merit is'^. 

I shall, however, not allow myself to be frightened by 
these things but ride the waves and make straight for my 
goal, doing my duty as long as the Almighty is pleased to 
grant me strength, following up my enemies (who, though 
hidden, are perfectly well known to me) in order to render 
them good for evil, and leaving the issue to Him Who 
said, "Vengeance is m.ine, I will repay-." 

I learn with great surprise from Your Honours' most 
highly esteemed missive that YY. HH, had not received 
the small copy which I had taken of M. d'Anville's map^ 
I immediately went through my drawings and found it 
amongst them. I enclose the map herein and humbly 
beg YY. HH. to pardon this oversight, which I am sure 
YY. HH. will do, considering that I can never close my 
despatches home except at the moment of the skipper's 
departure, having always to wait for the cargo-lists and 
bills of lading. At that moment, too, my house is generally 
full of people bringing their letters for the bag and who have 
the wretched habit of choosing that moment to talk about 

^ Cf. p. 216. 2 Rom. xii. 19. 

3 See pp. 374 and 397. 



DESPATCHES 383 

their business, so that in this way something can easily be 
forgotten. 

I am frequently coerced into taking a course which I 
really believe to be disadvantageous, and into which I am 
forced because I do not want to have seven-eighths of the 
Colony against me 

This is the case with the order I gave last year to allow 
no more Spaniards to come up the river, for this measure 
really appears to me to be injurious to our interests. 

I have always imagined that it was best for our inhabi- 
tants to send few or no boats to Orinoco, and so compel 
the Spaniards to come here with their merchandize ; in this 
way our people would not be exposed to the least danger, 
and the arrangement began to work very well. But the 
jealousy of those who had been accustomed to have that 
trade in their own hands caused many remarks to be made 
concerning the permission given the Spaniards, and brought 
me many remonstrances. Seeing that I took no notice of 
all this, and merely answered that the trade was free, and 
that it was only right that all the colonists should be able to 
profit by it, they brought things to such a pass that, just 
before the arrival of R. Robberts, a Petition was laid before 
the Court in the name of the colonists, asking, amongst 
other things, that the permission should be withdrawn 
from the Spaniards, and that they should be forbidden 
to come here. 

Finally, on receiving in Demerara a despatch from Mr 
Spoors, which I have the honour to inclose, I was obliged 
to bring myself to issue the desired orders, which still hold 
good. 



3^4 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 471/20 

May 28, 1761. 
(Extracts) 

My Lords, 

On the 1 8th March last I had the honour to 
write YY. HH. per the brigantine " Demerary Welvaeren," 
which I trust arrived safely. With the same vessel I had 
the honour to send a copy of the map of this coast, which 
I had forgotten to inclose in my previous letter. I hope 
the matter concerning Cuyuni will be brought to a happy 
issue, because it is really of the greatest importance for the 
Honourable Company. As the case appears to me, there 
can be no dispute about it with the Court of Spain, it 
being only too clear and evident that the Post not only 
stood upon the Honourable Company's territory, but that 
that territory extends much farther. 

I am informed by the Indians that messengers are still 
constantly being sent to that river evidently to ascertain 
whether we are re-establishing the Post, in which case they 
would probably again make a raid upon the same. 

Concerning my pains to give the English government 
as far as possible no reasons for complaint I have, Your 
Honours, always been of opinion that in these critical 
times and circumstances it was better to be somewhat too 
careful than somewhat too careless, having, nevertheless, 
always endeavoured to see that no private individuals 
suffered loss and that our own commerce was not in any 
way impeded. I can, however, not be blamed for trying 
to cover myself as far as possible in matters which are 
doubtful. It would be most disagreeable to me to see my 
name figuring in any complaint made to Their High 
Mightinesses, and I remember as if it were but yesterday 



DESPATCHES 385 

in what manner I heard Milord Holderness^ speak of the 
then Commander of St Eustatius, when, being in The 
Hague in the year 175 1, I had the honour of dining 
together with his lordship at the house of the Heer van 
Roon en Pendrecht^. 

In Demerara everything is, thank God, going on 
prosperously, and the plantations in that river are doing 
well. Whilst I am speaking of that river, I feel it my duty 
to suggest to YY. HH. that since the coffee plantations there 
are beginning to make good yields, and the cocoa crop is 
also very good, it will soon be time for YY. HH. to recall 
the permission kindly given some years ago to sell these 
products to strangers (on payment of certain dues). There 
is a great difference between those times and now. At the 
time of the concession these products were merely extras 
and of no importance, but enabled the poor to buy what 
they required from the English. Your Honours' favour 
was then of very great service, but since these things are 
now in a fair way to become some of our chief products, 



1 Robert D'Arcy, fourth Earl of Holderness {lyiS-jyyS) was edu- 
cated at Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In 1741 
he became one of the lords of the King's bedchamber and in that 
capacity attended George II to Hanover in ///J, and was present 
with him at the battle of Dettingen. In May^ J^749i he became 
minister plenipotentiary at The Hague and in May, //jz, was re- 
called to England, succeeding the Duke of Bedford as Secretary of 
State for the southern department in Henry Pelham's ministry, and 
holding the same post in that of the Duke of Newcastle. Holderness 
owed the political position to which he attained rather to his rank 
and foreign connections than to any great intellectual qualities. He 
married in 1742, Mary, the daughter of Francis Doublet, a member 
of the States of Holland. The Duke of Newcastle wrote of him to his 
brother : " He is universally loved and esteemed, almost by all parties? 
in Holland. ...He has no pride about him, though a D'Arcy." Diet, of 
Nat. Biog. vol. v. igo8. 

^ Count William Bentinck, Heer van Rhoon en Pendrecht (see 
p. 276). 

v. s. II. 25 



386 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

and apparently of very great importance, it would not be 
at all reasonable to allow strangers to profit by them, and 
so damage the shipping of Zeeland. 

As soon as there is a big fall in sugar it will also be 
necessary to impose a duty upon kiltum\ because the 
English planters are sure to take that in hand at once. It 
will, however, be impossible to carry out this measure in a 
proper manner in Demerara unless YY. HH. be pleased to 
increase the number of the garrison there to about a dozen 
soldiers, so that the captains may be compelled to show 
their passports to the harbour-master in order that we may 
know whether they have paid their dues. At the present 
time they treat the matter as a joke ; not long ago an 
English captain named Metcalfe, after having concluded 
his business, left the river without a passport and without 
having paid a penny of the dues, letting the sentinels shoot as 
much as they liked. The two soldiers there could not prevent 
him from going, and I could not send more because I have 
only seventeen more privates here, of whom but very few 
remain when there is some patrol to be sent out, as has 
frequently been the case lately. At the present moment 
I have sent one out to Wayni in search of a party of fugitives. 



P.R.O. 471/26 

Demerara, May 29, 1761. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

It has pleased Almighty God, in accordance 
with His eternal and immutable decree and to my deep 
and heartfelt grief, to take from this world to His Eternal 

^ Kiltum occurs only in Storm's despatches. It is clearly rum. 
"Kill-devil" was the original name given in Barbados to the new 
drink ; doubtless the Dutch took it thence (cf. Darnell Davis in 
Timehri, i88j, vol. iv. p. 76). 



DESl'ATCHES 387 

Kingdom, very suddenly and after a few days' illness, my 
eldest son, Jonathan Samuel Storm van 's Gravesande^, 
Commander of the River Demerara, at the age of 34 years ; 
of this great loss to me I have considered it my duty to 
inform YY, HH. 

YY. HH. can very well imagine how severely this blow, 
coming so shortly after the loss of my dear wife, must fall 
upon me. I received these sad tidings after finishing my 
letter to YY. HH. and thirty-six hours before closing the 
letter-bag in Essequibo, whereupon I immediately set out 
for Demerara, requesting Mr Secretary Spoors to enclose 
the papers which were not yet ready in his letter to YY. HH. 
It being quite impossible for the River Demerara to be 
without a chief the Court of Policy resolved to bestow the 
command provisionally and until Your Honours' further 
orders upon the Commandant, Laurens Lodewijk van 
Bercheyckl I take the liberty of humbly requesting 
YY. HH. to be pleased to favour Your Honours' old servant 
by bestowing that office upon the aforesaid Commandant. 
Should YY. HH. be good enough to add this kindness to so 
many other proofs of favour which I have had the good 
fortune to enjoy, YY. HH. will impose upon me indelible 
gratitude by affording me so great a consolation and a 
support in my old age, for I can with truth attest that his 
behaviour towards me is equal to that of a son. I can 
confidently pledge my word for it that YY. HH. could not 
have a more faithful and zealous servant and he has more- 
over the good fortune of being liked by all the burghers of 
Demerara to such a degree that if the choice were left to 
them it would undoubtedly, bya large majority,fall upon him. 

Expecting Capt. Spanjaerd every moment to close the 
letter-bag here and having still to get a number of letters 
ready I shall conclude this by commending myself to 

1 See p. 32. "^ See p. 335. 

25—2 



388 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

Your Honours' gracious favour and with the assurance that 

I shall always be with the deepest respect and esteem, 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

Your Honours' most humble, obedient and sorrowing 

servant, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



p.R.o. 471/44 

August 12, 1 76 1. 
(Extract) 

The sworn depositions for which YY. HH. ask concerning 
the canoes captured by the Spaniards cannot possibly be 
made out, especially those relating to the canoes which 
were out salting, and which were consequently seized 
contrary to all right and reason. On those canoes there 
were no whites ; there was only one negro, and the rest 
were free Indians. With regard to the others, the whites 
that were captured in them are prisoners in Orinoco, and 
are in the fortress there, and it will possibly be some time 
before they are released. 

After taking everything out of the Company's canoe of 
" Aechtekerke " they let it go, and it came home, but they 
have kept the fine new canoe belonging to the plantation 
" Duynenburg." The latter having been captured this side 
of Barima, I am of opinion that it was captured upon the 
Honourable Company's territory, for, although there are 
no positive proofs to be found here, such has always been 
so considered by the oldest settlers, as also by all the free 
Indians. Amongst the latter I have spoken with some 
very old Caribs, who told me that they remember the time 
when the Honourable Company had a Post in Barima', for 
the reestablishment of which they had often asked, in order 
that they might be relieved from the annoyance of the 

^ See p. 19. 



DESPATCHES 389 

Surinam pirates ; and then, lastly, because the boundaries 
are always thus defined by foreigners, as may be seen on 
the map prepared by d'Anville, the Frenchman, a small 
extract of which I have sent by the " Demerary Welvaeren*." 
These are the only reasons, YY. HH., upon which I base 
my opinions, because there are no old papers here out of 
which any information could be obtained. It appears to 
me that the Spaniards are not ignorant of this, else they 
would not have made so many complaints concerning the 
behaviour of the depredators in Barima. I believe that 
had they considered it to be their territory they would 
have found some means of stopping it, especially since 
they dared to do so in such a violent manner in Cuyuni, 
when they were perfectly convinced that that place was 
beyond their own jurisdiction. I hope this business will 
not be shelved, as it is of too great an importance for the 
Colony. 

The matter referred to in tJie foregoi7ig despatch %uas reported 
by Storm October 2^, lydo"^, the Company asked for 
fuller information on March 16, iy6i ', and Storm now 
zvriting in August of that year, fourteen or fifteen 
montJis were to elapse since the occurretice before the 
Company could make " the necessary remonstrances " to 
the States-General, who might then instruct their 
A mbassador to act ! 



P.R.O. 471/47 

August 28, 1761. 
(Extract) 

I was very pleased to see from Your Honours' letter 
that YY. HH. are beginning to appreciate the rise of 
Demerara, and in truth. Noble and Right Honble. Sirs, 

^ See pp. 374 and 382. ^ See p. 376. ^ /^^^^ ^//_ 



390 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

that Colony is growing to such an extent that it gives 
reason for wonder ; it will surpass this in a very short time, 
that is certain. Everything there succeeds beyond expecta- 
tion ; it was but recently told me that the plantation, " Het 
Loo," belonging to Mr G. Clarke, Jr., situated rather high 
up and having by far not the best soil there, cost that 
gentleman iJ"i 2,000 sterling, that he had not only recouped 
that amount during the past year, but had made a net 
profit by the end of December of ^4000 and estimated to 
make fully ^^5000 this current year. 

His plantation " De Vriendschap," being No. 12 on the 
east shore, will be something else altogether, one acre of 
land there being worth ten acres of " Het Loo," and it is 
the same with all the land lying thereabouts. 

The journey to and fro between here and Demerara is 
very irksome and fatiguing for me and yet my presence 
there is often very necessary for getting everything into 
proper order and upon a good footing. The people are 
used to me ; I can speak their own tongue with most of 
them and can, by arguing with them, get a good deal done 
that would not be attainable by issuing commands or using 
force. I fear that if I do not stop there for a good while 
uninterruptedly neither the road to Essequibo nor other 
necessary matters will see completion for a long time yet. 
Of this old Mr Clarke was so convinced that he used every 
endeavour to persuade me to stay there somewhat longer ; 
I showed him, however, that it was impossible for me to do 
so by reason of the unpleasantness it would create here. 
In fact this went so far last year that when I stayed in 
Demerara at the time of the ordinary meeting here, the 
Councillors of Justice refused to sit and transact business, 
so that everyone had to leave with his affairs unsettled. 
I expressed my surprise to the Councillors hereat, telling 
them that Mr Secretary Spoors having presided in their 
assembly for two years by Your Honours' special command 



DESPATCHES 39 1 

whilst I was in Europe he could indeed again have done so 
for that single meeting. 

Were I honoured with positive orders from YY. HH. to 
reside in Demerara for a certain time each year (as long or 
as short as YY. HH. should deem fit) there would be no 
more to say upon the matter and the inhabitants there 
would be greatly pleased. If anything of importance 
occurred I could always be at the Fort in twenty-four 
hours and when the road is finished in about eight. It is 
true that those periods would be irksome and very incon- 
venient for Mr Secretary Spoors if at such times he were 
compelled to live with his family at the Fort, but as he can 
get there from his plantation in ten minutes, and since 
either the Commandant or Assistant Loof is always there, 
that would not be necessary, because at a preconcerted 
signal he could be at the Fort immediately. 

Captain Douglas^ is very well pleased with Demerara 

^ Captain Robert Douglas, a brother of the British admiral men- 
tioned in the note following this, had (according to Netscher, Op. cit. 
p. 225) married a Dutch lady, and, though still in the English navy 
(cf. p. 379), evidently contemplated becoming a Demerara colonist. 
From the series of letters described on p. 448 (and which may be 
consulted in Titnehri, vol. ii. New Series, 1888) we learn that he 
was in Zeeland in I-/62 with Gedney Clarke, Jr. (cf. p. 42), and in 
correspondence with Count William Bentinck (cf p. 276), introducing 
the former to the latter, the patron of Demerara. Upon the outbreak 
of the serious slave rising in Berbice in //dj (see pp. 415 et scq.) and 
when a relief corps was being raised in the Netherlands Gedney 
Clarke, Jr., wrote to Bentinck {July., ^763) "We should be all rejoiced 
to have Capt. Douglas command the troops sent to Demerara as he is 
a "man of great prudence and steadiness and one fit to govern both 
Dutch and English." But in August Bentinck replied, "Captain 
Douglas goes on the expedition as Lieutenant-Colonel. He is the 
second person." The command was given to Colonel Jan Marius 
de Salve. 

Douglas (says Netscher, loc. cit.) was a particular protege and 
friend of the Duke of Brunswick- Wolfenbuttel, Field-Marshal com- 
manding the troops of the United Provinces and Guardian of the 
youthful Hereditary Stadholder Prince William V after the death of 
the Gouvernante Anna in I75g, and during his stay in Berbice 



392 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE S 

and with the plantation which his brother bought for him ; 
he is going to Barbados at the earliest opportunity to speak 
to his brother, the Admiral \ and thence back to Zeeland 
to fetch his family. I have no doubt he will on his arrival 
have the honour of giving YY. HH. a verbal and circum- 
stantial account of the state of these Colonies. 

Everything in the upper part of the river is again in a 
state of upset, the people who live there bringing their 
best goods down the stream. This is because a party of 
Spaniards and Spanish Indians in Cuyuni have been down 
to the lowest fall, where Your Honours' indigo plantation 
is situated, driving all the Indians thence, and even, it is 
said, having killed several. The Indians sent in complaint 
upon complaint. I fear that bloodshed and murder will 
come of this, because, if they come below the fall, the 
inhabitants will surely shoot upon them, and not allow 
them to approach, and what will the consequences of that 
be .'' We leave those people in peace. So long as I have 
had the honour of holding the command here I have 
embraced every opportunity of preventing the Indians 
from annoying them, and in this I have been fairly success- 
ful. Why cannot they leave us in peace ? It is really 
insupportable how, contrary to the law of nature and the 



addressed to the Duke in Holland a series of reports, written in 
French and English, now in the Konitiklijk Huisarchief. 

1 Douglas (Sir James), Admiral ; b. //oj, d. lySj, son of George 
Douglas of Friarshaw, Roxburghshire. Promoted to the rank of 
captain in 17441 he was in 1756 a member of the court-martial which 
tried and condemned Admiral Byng. In 1760 he was appointed 
commodore and commander-in-chief on the Leeward Islands station, 
and in 1761 his squadron captured the island of Dominica. In 1762 
he was superseded by Rear-Admiral Rodney, under whom he served 
as second in command at the reduction of Martinique, and was 
advanced to the rank of rear-admiral before the end of that year. 
Promoted to be vice-admiral in 1770^ he was commander-in-chief 
at Portsmouth for three years from 177J and attained the rank of 
admiral in 1778. He was created a baronet in 1786. 



DESPATCHES 393 

right of nations, they first come and attack our Post, make 
prisoners, and ill-treat the people in such a way that the 
Postholder's assistant has died from it, burn down the 
house and all it contained, and now still constantly come 
and disturb us. 

It is no use complaining because the Commandant, 
Don Juan Valdez, in Orinoco, whilst sending back the 
letter unopened^ which I had requested the Commandant 
to write to him, has written me to say that he is forbidden 
to enter into any written correspondence concerning the 
matter, and that we must address ourselves to the Court 
at Madrid. 

If I were permitted, YY. HH., to do as they are doing, 
I would risk my old head once more, and make them pay 
doubly for the annoyance they are causing us. 



P.R.O. 471/55 

December 10, 1761. 
(Extract) 

Having already concluded my letter to YY. HH. by this 
vessel I receive from Barbados, by a small boat containing 
not more than four men, a letter from Sir J. Douglas^, 
Commander of His Britannic Majesty's squadron in these 
seas, which, had it not come too late, would have greatly 
embarrassed me, since I do not know how I am to act in 
such matters. 

I answered the letter immediately and informed His 
Honour that the deserters in question having distributed 
themselves upon various ships had left the Colony, with 
the exception of one who had sought employment upon 
the plantation of a colonist named E. Lonke and had died 
there. 

^ See p. 367. 2 See p. 392. 



394 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

I have the honour to send YY. HH. enclosed a copy of 
the letter with the humble request that it may please 
YY. HH. to send me orders what I am to do in similar 
occurrences, feelings here being greatly at variance in the 
matter. 



[Inclosure.] 

p.R.o. 471/56 

Barbadoes, October 30, 1761. 

Sir, 

Ten sailors having deserted from his Majestys schooner 
the Barbadoes when att Demarary, flatter my self that in consequence 
of the application made to your Exellency, they are already 
secur'd; if not I shall take it as a particular favour, if your 
Exellency would give the necessary orders therefore, & keep 
them in secure confinement till the situation of affairs here permit 
my sending for them, or till som better opportunity offer than the 
present one, for bringing them away. 

In Return I most chearfuUy offer you all the assistance in my 
power, that may in any way tend to the improvement of your 
infant Colony of Demarary of which it gives me great pleasure to 
hear such good Reports & which my Brother Capt. Douglas has 
strongly confirm'd to me ; I thank your Exellency for you civilities 
shown to him, & further recomend him to your protection, when 
he shall come to settle at Demarary. 

I am sorry to tell your Exellency, that many of the Dutch 
vessells that have been brought into port by my squadron have 
been seiz'd going into Martinique & the other french Islands, 
although clear'd out for Demarary ; this, I am sensible your 
Colony is not the least concern'd in ; on the contrary if any of 
them shall meet with the least hardship, upon proper application 
made, your Exellency will always find me ready & willing to 
redress the same, & give them all the assistance in my power. 

I have the honour to be 
Sir 
Your Exellency's most obedient and most humble servant 

James Douglas. 

His Exellency Mr Storm van 's Gravesande. 



\ 



\ 



DESPATCHES 395 

P.R.O. 471/60 

January 9, 1762. 
(Extracts) 

Trade with Orinoco is going on pretty fairly, a number 
of mules and horses having lately come from there. It is 
a pity that the mutual jealousy causes the trade so much 
hindrance. A little while ago a barque and some other 
small vessels belonging to Mr Persik, being on their way 
there, fell in with a canoe belonging to Dr B. Struys ; 
the barque opened fire upon the canoe, and compelled it to 
hang back. The canoe, arriving late, could not get a 
single mule, and had to take only eleven horses. This 
causes bad blood, and such behaviour may possibly lead 
to the ruin of the whole business. I fear that this event 
may give some trouble to the Court when the barque 
returns.... 

The New Year having commenced I have the honour 
to wish YY. HH. every possible happiness, blessing and 
good fortune in the course of the same and in a long series 
of following ones. I hope that the Omnipotent Creator 
and Ruler of the Universe may shower in full measure 
upon Your Honours' persons, families and government His 
dearest blessings, both temporal and spiritual. May He 
grant YY. HH. unfailing health, perfect peace and prosperity 
in all Your Honours' undertakings, in a word, all that can 
be desired by us mortals here in this sublunary and here- 
after in His Eternal Realm. These are the honest wishes 
of him who will ever be with the deepest respect and 
esteem, 

Your Honours' most humble and obedient servant, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



396 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

P.R.O. 471/67 

January 18, 1762. 
(Extracts) 

I have the honour humbly to thank YY. HH. for 
graciously conferring upon my son-in-law^ the commander- 
ship of Demerara. I trust that by honest zeal and care for 
Your Honours' service and the welfare of the Colony he 
will prove worthy of a continuance of Your Honours' 
favour and protection, and of this, too, I have little doubt.... 

I had flattered myself that YY. HH. would have been 
good enough to grant the newly-appointed Commander 
some increase of salary since now, though raised in rank 
and importance by Your Honours' favour, he has lost in 
income, for here he had some emoluments, such as six 
guilders flag money from every English barque entering, 
whilst in Demerara there are no emoluments at all or very 
small ones ; there he is moreover compelled to incur more 
expense, especially when the ordinary meetings are held 
and his house is full of people. 

Your Honours' commands with regard to doubling the 
rations and provisions for Mr Spoors shall be strictly 
obeyed. It is always most agreeable and a real pleasure to 
me to see YY. HH. bestow any favour upon the Company's 
servants. But I beg that YY. HH. will not take it amiss if 
I make bold humbly to desire to be informed wherein 
I have given YY. HH. cause for displeasure, so that I may 
endeavour to remedy this as far as lies in my power. For, 
YY. HH., must it not be hard for me to see my fortunes 
thus reduced without knowing why, when I have had the 
honour of serving YY. HH. for so long a series of years and 
have, to the best of my knowledge, always endeavoured to 
do my duty. From the accompanying list YY. HH. will see 

1 See p. 335. 



DESPATCHES 397 

that by this new regulation Mr Secretary receives of some 
provisions double the quantity that I do. 

In tlie despatcJi of Feb. p, 1^62^, Storm returns to the question 
of his diminished provisions ; evidently the increase to 
the Secretary came out of some remainder that fell to the 
share of the Director-General. 



P.R.O. 471/69 

February 9, 1762. 
(Extracts) 

I was very glad to see that YY. HH. were pleased with 
my copy of d'Anville's Map-^. That map is not only the 
best, but the only one in which this coast is exactly and 
truly given, wherefore I did not rest until I had it, having 
seen the same in the hands of His late Serene Highness, 
who was kind enough to show it me as soon as it was 
published in the year 175 1. I trust that YY. HH. will not 
lose sight of the outrage in Cuyuni'*. That matter is of 
the utmost importance for many very weighty reasons, and 
more than any one in Europe could imagine. Neither my 
true zeal nor the real interest 1 take in the welfare of the 
Company or Colony, nor yet my oath and duty will allow 
me to sit still or to neglect this matter, and even if there 
were no important reasons which compelled the Honourable 
Company to take a real interest in the possession of Cuyuni, 
I cannot see why we should permit the Spaniards to disturb 
and appropriate our lawful possessions. Have they not 
land enough of their own, the possession of which is not 
disputed .-* Yes, much more than they can or ever will be 
able to govern. 



' The extract is given on p. 53. 

' .See p. 382. 3 See p. 392. 



398 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

They are not yet quiet, but send detachments from 
time to time, which come down as far as the lowest fall, 
close to the dwelling of Your Honours' Creoles, by which 
both the settlers and our Indians are continually being 
alarmed, and take refuge each time down stream. This is 
very annoying. They must have great and important 
reasons to make such attempts to obtain possession of this 
branch of our river, and I have not the least doubt that 
such is the case, but I hope, too, that YY. HH. may find a 
means of stopping them. 

As long as the Almighty gives me strength I shall not 
relax my efforts in looking for and bringing back run- 
aways. I am far too deeply convinced of the important 
consequences of this matter to let it rest. So long as we 
have the good fortune to stand well with the Indians (and 
I shall always try to remain so), and keep them under our 
protection, so long, I say, we need have no fear, for every 
possible precaution has been taken along the sea-coast, and 
no negroes can get away unless the Indians connive at 
their escape or unless they go over to the Spaniards, which, 
since the occurrence at Cuyuni, can scarcely be prevented. 
It is some consolation, however, that those who do go to 
the Spaniards cannot do us any harm. 

Having beeji requested to f7irnisJi the W. I. Co. with a Register 
similar to that compiled in Berbice Storm, having 
obtained a copy of the latter, says : — 

Wherefore I have compiled a similar (but much more 
accurate) one of this Colony, which I have the honour to 
send by this occasion, hoping it will fulfil its aim. 

From this Register^ YY. HH. will be able to see what a 

^ This Register has furnished the data for the following compilation : 
In iy62 Essequibo had 68 plantations belonging to private planters 



DESPATCHES 



399 



small number of slaves there are in this Colony, and that 
it is really a matter of wonder where all the produce comes 
from. 



and employing at least {vide Storm's sarcastic remarks above) 2571 
slaves, and three plantations belonging to the West India Company. 
Plantations owned by Englishmen were : — • 



Name. 
Schoonhoven 
D'Eensaemheyt 
Nieuw Walcheren 
De Vriendschap 
D'Adventuur 
Nieuw Antigoa 
Oranjestein 
Dundee 



Owner, 
Austin (Thomas) 
Brownrig (John) 
Clarke (Gedney) Sr. 
Croydon (William) 
Fitzpatrick (Edward) 
Leary (Cornelius) 
Millikin (James) 
Stewart (Daniel) 



In the same year Demerara had 93 plantations, employing 1648 
slaves, and all in the hands of private planters. Here no fewer than 
34, or over a third, were owned by Englishmen. 



Name. 
Spring Garden 
Dalgin | 

Lucky Hit I 

Garden of Eden 

Blenheim 

De Vriendschap 

Hampton Court 

Het Loo 

Golden Grove 

York 

Richmond 

De Herstelling 

Irish Hope 

Weilburg 

Fitz Hope 
Little Barbados 
Eudokia 
Peter's Hall 
The Retrieve 

Tweedside 



Owner. 
Austin (Thomas) 
Bermingham (John) 

Calloway (Joseph) 
Carter (Samuel) 
Clarke (Francis) 
Clarke (Gedney) Sr. 

Clarke (Gedney) Jr. 

Clarke (Peter) 

Clarke (William) 

Cox (John) 

Dally (Richard Bass) 

Douglas (Sir James) & Co. 

Fitzpatrick (Edward) 

Fitzpatrick (John) & Co. 

Floyd (Samuel) 

Hall (Elizabeth) 

Halley (Peter) 

Knott (Isaac) 

Maynard (John) 

Nichols (Benjamin) 

Nichols (Edward) 



* In several instances the name of the plantation (possibly still unworked) 
omitted . 



400 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Whether the returns of the slaves are properly and truly 
made out by the settlers there is great reason to doubt, 

Name. Owner. 

The Bell Roberts (William) 

Donoon Rowan (John) 

Glasgow Sampson (Ralph) 

Adventure Simons (Thomas) 

The Friendship Simmons (John) 

Wismar Somersall (Anthony) 

Warrapanna Sutton (John) 
John Trewern's Folly Thomas (John) 

Philanthropia Toppin (William) 

Diamond Welsh (Samuel) 

For a period covering eight years of Storm's administration we 
have extant these "Registers" of Essequibo and Demerara, laboriously 
compiled in his own handwriting — a valuable record of his methodical 
care. From the Register for iy6g, the latest of the series, we find 
that there were 

in Essequibo 92 plantations with 3986 slaves 
in Demerara 206 „ ,, 5967 „ 

the number of plantations in Demerara owned by English being 56. 

It is probable that many of the Dutch plantations in Demerara 
were either not occupied or left in the hands of English attorneys, as 
Storm writes (p. 379) of an English-speaking majority. 

These Registers, which the descendants of planters established in 
the Colony at the date of their compilation may desire to consult, are 
contained in the following volumes. 

1762 and 1763 in P.R.O. 471 (Documents 70 and 161) 
1764 and 1765 ,, 472 ( ,, 8S ,, 139) 

1766 ,, 473 ( .. 38) 

1767 and 1768 ,, 474 ( >, 83 and 183) 

1769 " 475 ( .> 19) 

Whilst this work was in the press we were informed by the Public 
Record Office that it had been necessary to re-number all the volumes 
described on pp. 5 and 6, including the above-mentioned, but the 
following key to the eleven volumes that contain Storm's despatches 
was very courteously furnished us. 



Old Designation. 




New 


Designation. 


CO. Transmissions Vol. 


, 466 


CO. 


116 N°. 28 






467 

468 
469 




^9 
30 
31 






470 




32 






471 




33 






472 




34 






473 

474 




35 
36 






475 
476 




37 
38 



DESPATCHES 4OI 

because there are many who have an elastic conscience, or 
probably none at all. 



P.R.O. 471/82 

April 3, 1762. 
(Extract) 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

It is not without great difficulty and many 
breaks that I have the honour to write this letter, by 
reason of incessant pains in my shoulders, which, in the 
present exceptionally severe drought, overpower me to 
such an extent that I fear, not without reason, I may lose 
all power to write. Wherefore, too, I commence this letter 
early, the vessel having departed but three days ago for 
Demerara, where it must lie for four weeks. 

Chagrin, coming on top of this, weakens me terribly, 
although it never did have a great hold upon me, for I was 
taught from my youth upwards to submit with resignation 
to the will of the Most High ; but one cannot entirely 
divest oneself of human nature, perfect satisfaction being 
laid aside for a future life. For, Noble and Right Honour- 
able Sirs, when I put forth my utmost endeavours to further 
the interests of the Honourable Company and the Colony 
(relegating all my own to the background), when I am for 
ever, night and day, contriving how to keep all things in 
good order, and then find that all is in vain and gets 
daily more impracticable — ^how very painful this must be 
to me YY. HH. can easily imagine. 

If I were to take matters lightly and not insist upon 
what was really for the best, in the idea that it would well 
serve my time (as has often been suggested to me by 

V. S. II. 26 



402 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE S 

Others) I could be easy in my mind, but that is impossible 
for me to do, for as long as I live or have the honour to 
serve the Honourable Company I neither shall nor can 
deviate from my duty. 

YY. HH. will probably ask the reason of this long 
prologue, but I hope to have the honour to explain it. 

Some years ago it pleased YY. HH. considerably to 
reduce the number of slaves belonging to the Fort here, 
although there were really too few than too many, as I 
had the honour to inform YY. HH. on several occasions^ 
Since then most of the Creoles have died too, and although 
the foreman does all that is in human power to do, he 
cannot get done what is necessary. We have seven negro 
carpenters and four masons — no more. Of the carpenters 
one is a macroon'^, and the masons have to work fully eight 
months in the year on the three plantations. 

The Fort has now become so dilapidated that the top- 
most beams of the redoubt have rotted, and, although 
propped up by supports, run great danger of coming 
down. The moats are choked up, the sluice out of order, 
and of the seven- or eight-and-forty pieces of ordnance 
only about six have gun-carriages, the rest lying on the 
ground. The guard-house is almost an utter ruin. 

The church, being entirely of stone, is in good con- 
dition, but the roof has almost disappeared, and when the 
rain comes the building will be untenantable. 

My house is in an even worse condition — the roof has 
rotted away, the slabs on which it rests have entirely dis- 
appeared and it is a marvel that it is still standing, for in 
the front hall I have had half the beams sawn away to 
diminish the weight and only by continual repairing is it 
kept upright. The galley is open on every side and 

1 In 1744 (see pp. 212, 213), in iy^2 (seep. 282) and //jj (see p. 328). 

2 Decrepit. 



DESPATCHES 4O3 

almost without a roof. When the house begins to fall in 
I shall not know where to go. 

The Secretariat is in pretty much the same condition 
and quite as bad as my house. The Honourable Company's 
warehouse is also in absolute need of a new roof The new 
house for the expected preacher is nearly finished but has 
no galley or storehouse yet, and although the house of the 
deceased ship's carpenter (which was on the point of 
tumbling in) and the beams from my house were used, 
eight weeks, with all the men working, were spent in 
building it. 

The house-carpenter's dwelling is in so bad a state 
that it is a wonder it does not fall in. 

We have no white workmen left, the only one being 
Arnoud Vermeere, who is too old and decrepit to do 
anything. 

If YY. HH. will be good enough to examine the Berbice 
register it will be seen that the number of employees there 
is a good deal larger, and I am informed that there are far 
above a hundred slaves at the Fort. I submitted all this 
to Mr Spoors when he was here last week to close the 
letter-bag of " De Demerary Planter," and he replied that 
when the Honble. Co.'s canoes took sugar to Demerara he 
would order them to bring back some trouille^ for the 
church, as being absolutely necessary. This is all very 
well, but how far will it go ? 



1 The word, of French origin, employed by Storm, is now written 
"troolie" in the Colony. 

" Each gigantic undivided leaf of the troolie palm {Manicaria 
saccifera) is really a shelter in itself; and a few of these laid, without 
further preparation, so as to overlap like tiles, make a most perfect 
roof" (im Thurn, Among the Indians of Guiana, i88j, p. 209.) 

26 — 2 



404 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 



P.R.O. 471/128 

August 28, 1762, 
(Extract) 

The Postholder of Maroco has come up stream, and 
has reported to me that he has been warned on three 
different occasions by the Warouws^ of Trinidad that it 
is the intention of the Spaniards to make a raid upon 
that Post, and has asked for reinforcements. 

The garrison being extraordinarily weak, and finding 
myself compelled to send at least eight men to Demerary, 
I was unable to give him any men, but instructed him to 
engage one or two mulattoes for three months at soldiers' 
wages if he could get them, telling him that I would provide 
them with arms and ammunition ; in such cases these people 
are better than soldiers, for they can make their way through 
the bush and speak the Indian languages. 

The Indians round the Post are continually asking for 
guns and cutlasses ; as it is impossible to spare these now 
I am compelled to ask YY. HH. to send me a parcel of 
good guns and cutlasses. These will be urgently required, 
especially if the piracies continue, in which case we shall 
be obliged to employ the Carib nation, who cannot or will 
not fight without guns^. 



1 See p. 343. 

^ The Directors' reply, dated Nov. .?p, 1762., ran : — 
"We approve of your having authorized the Postholder in Moruca 
to engage one or two mulattoes for two to four months at soldier's pay. 
We also send you herewith fifty muskets and cutlasses, in order if need 
be to arm therewith the natives for the defence of the Colony ; more- 
over, you receive by this ship eight men for the reinforcement of the 
garrison." See also p. 86 as to the policy. 



DESPATCHES 405 

P.R.O. 471/130 

August 29, 1762. 
(Extract) 

The Indians have also informed me that the Spaniards 
up in Cuyuni are engaged in building boats. What can all 
these things mean, YY. HH. ? I fear that this may lead to 
the entire ruin of the Colony (which God forbid) unless 
vigorous measures are taken. Our forbearance in the 
matter of Cuyuni makes them bolder and bolder. At the 
time of that occurrence the Caribs were full of courage 
and ready for all kinds of undertaking ; now they are all 
driven away from there and have retired right up into 
Essequibo. 



P.R.O. 471/150 

November 6, 1762. 
(Extracts) 

On the nth September the Carib nation unexpectedly 
sent messengers down the river, inquiring how matters 
stood with the Spaniards, saying that they would certainly 
not allow the latter to obtain a footing here, and that they 
were ready to aid us with all their might. 

I answered them that there was no great danger }'et, it 
being only one small pirate who was causing this com- 
motion, but I requested them to be good enough to keep 
their arms and boats ready to come down at the least 
warning, and that in such an event we would provide them 
with powder and shot. This they accepted and promised. 

Just after noon on the loth of September we had a 
sudden and violent whirlwind that carried off the topmost 
part of the roofs of most of the houses here. Although it 
was raining very hard I was obliged to flee from the house 



406 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

with my children, fearing it would fall in, for it has now 
got into such a state as to be beyond repair ; I shall 
therefore be compelled nolens vole?ts to move out of it in 
about four weeks' time, to inhabit one of the small houses, 
and to store my belongings here and there while I have the 
old house pulled down and re-built. I have put off 
doing so until the very last moment and cannot remain in 
it any longer without actual danger to life, especially in 
the windy season, which begins at the end of November. 



P.R.O. 471/138 

December 13, 1762. 
(Extract) 

It is impossible for me to answer Your Honours' letters 
circumstantially now, both on account of the short time 
that is left and of my having moved into another house 
where everything lies upside down and I can scarcely 
turn, for it is very small, consisting only of two rooms 
twenty feet square and a vestibule. Your Honours' letters, 
too, requiring a detailed reply I shall postpone the same 
until the departure of " De Gezusters " or of the " Spreeu- 
wenburg " if the latter goes first, as I believe it will. 

Upon that of the 7th October I shall however have the 
honour to reply briefly that I am bitterly grieved to hear 
of Your Honours' displeasure concerning the yields of 
Your Honours' plantations, the more so since YY. HH. are 
perfectly justified therein. But what am I to say, Noble 
and Right Honourable Sirs ? I am in great difficulties 
respecting the matter and it has given me many an anxious 
hour. It is true, YY. HH., the Company's plantations should, 
accidents excluded, yield annually at least 3C0 hogsheads 
of sugar each — that is, taking one with the other, for they 
are by far not equal either in slaves or in the quality of 



DESPATCHES 407 

the soil. But my authority in these matters is of so Httle 
weight and my advice so little valued that I can very 
easily answer before God and man for my share of the 
blame. But I will not dilate upon that now\ 



P.R.O. 471/158 

February 22, 1763. 
(Extracts) 

The arrival here of the Rev. I. Lingius was a great 
pleasure to everyone and we have every reason to be most 
grateful to YY. HH. for the good care taken on behalf of 
this Colony in the choice of such a pastor ; not only is he, 
as far as can be judged at present, more than worthy of the 
post, but he will be respected and beloved by all and his 
service will, with the Lord's blessing, bear good fruit. I 
must say that not only was I, but all the colonists were 
greatly prepossessed by the reverend gentleman, a proof of 
which YY. HH, will see in the proposal and petition to be 
laid before YY. HH. on behalf of the Councillors asking that 
the pastor may be enabled to pay with due decorum the 
pastoral visits before Holy Communion and to perform 
other of his offices without laying any burden upon the 
Honble. Co. This petition I take the liberty of earnestly 
commending to YY. HH. as a matter of necessity and beg 
for a favourable reply. 

The Rev. H. van Grevenbroek, our old and much re- 
spected pastor, took leave of his congregation on January 9 
with the words of the Apostle Paul, chap. 3, verse 12: — 
" Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil 
heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." 



^ Storm exculpates himself more amply in the despatch of Feb. 22^ 
1763, pp. 408-412. 



408 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

In the afternoon of the same day the Rev. Mr Lingius 
(after having been installed by his colleague in the morning) 
entered upon his sacred duties by expounding the words of 
Nehemiah, chap. 2, the middle portion of the 20th verse: — 
" The God of Heaven, He will prosper us ; therefore we, 
His servants, will arise and build." 

Both of these texts (especially the latter) were ex- 
pounded in excellent, soul-stirring and very eloquent 
words before a numerous gathering, the church being 
very full, as I had announced the occasion some time 
before in both rivers 

Do YY. HH. not think that we might without exercising 
the least violence, again take possession of the Post in 
Cuyuni, and place a subaltern officer there with ten or 
twelve men as a guard, against which I do not think the 
Spaniards would dare to undertake anything? I take the 
liberty of recommending this to Your Honours' serious 
consideration as a matter of great importance both for the 
Honourable Company and for the Colony, several slaves 
having already run away in that direction, and the Colony 
lying open on that side to all Spanish undertakings. 

Be pleased not to take it amiss, YY. HH., if, in defence 
of my well-grounded and legitimate complaints concerning 
the dilapidated state of all the buildings and works here, 
I dilate somewhat in answering a paragraph of Your 
Honours' highly esteemed letter. 

YY. HH. are pleased to say, " Even if there had been 
no negro carpenter at the Fort for years it could not be in 
a worse condition than it is now. It is true that they were 
reduced to five at the great reform but formerly not only 
were the present Fort and Kijkoveral kept up with five, 
but, etc." What answer am I to make to this, YY. HH. ? 
The deep respect I owe yy. HH., of which I hope never to 
lose a tittle, would constrain me to remain silent and to 



DESPATCHES 4O9 

say naught were I not on the other hand impelled to 
defend myself before YY. HH. as my masters, and masters 
to whom I owe eternal gratitude for the manifold benefits 
I have received — to answer for my conduct and to expose 
clearly and plainly to YY. HH. the error (be it said with 
due respect) in the above-quoted words. 

I know very well (although I have been unable to 
obtain the inventories of that period, often as I have 
asked for them) that when I arrived in this country in 
the year 1738 there were many more than twenty negroes 
at the Fort ; besides these there were fully fifteen or six- 
teen good Creole carpenters, half of which number, being 
half-free, always worked at the Fort. The number of 
negroes did not increase, but remained much about the 
same until the year 1753. Upon my return from Europe 
there were at the Fort, according to the inventory, and in 
addition to the smiths (who are always reckoned apart), 
twenty-six negro artizans, including the bomba^ and the 
foreman's boy. The Creoles decreased steadily and there 
are now not more than three who can do carpenters' work. 

(The inventory given me after writing the above shows 
that there were more slaves than I have enumerated ; the 
number of Creoles is correct.) 

Be pleased, YY. HH., to consider also that at that time 
there were here, at Fort Zeelandia, 20 negroes belonging 
to the colonists and three from each of Your Honours' 
plantations — therefore 32 altogether — who built all the 
houses, &c., here (for nothing was being done at the Fort), 
as was fully brought home to YY. HH. by reason of the 
pilfering that went on and the complaints that were then 
being made. 

The 26 slaves that were at the Fort in the years 1752 
and 1753 were always reinforced by three from each plan- 

^ Foreman. 



410 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

tation, therefore by nine, and still it was only with great 
difficulty that the work was got through. 

In addition to all this my predecessor had the privilege 
of sending to the plantations for as many men as he pleased 
whenever there was anything extra to be done. 

It has always been an iron law to me, and especially 
since my return from Europe, to carry out Your Honours' 
commands strictly and literally, without deviating or 
allowing the least deviation therefrom except on extra- 
ordinary occasions when there w^ls periadiini in mora^ and 
whereupon I have then had the honour of reporting toYY. HH. 
at the first opportunity. I have therefore, since the time 
when YY. HH. were pleased to institute the great reform^, 
never borrowed a single slave from the plantations, except 
once (I believe) in the year 1761, when, and even that at 
the instance of Mr Spoors, I had some sent for in order to 
clean out the moats of the Fort, which were choked up, 
and at which work they were not quite a fortnight. 

I took great care that for household work not a single 
slave more should be employed than YY. HH. allowed — 
indeed, fewer, if possible, for the Commander has only one 
instead of two, whilst I have in my house two macroons of 
little or no use. One of these is my cook ; she was the 
first slave allotted me on my arrival in this country and 
being very honest and faithful I have not cared to exchange 
her. 

Accustomed to make the round of this river once every 
year I have now omitted doing so for the last three or four 
years since it is impossible to get about with less than 
eight men and a coxswain, and therefore all work would 
have to be neglected in the meantime. 

The four negro bricklayers (one of whom is a macroon) 
figuring upon the Fort inventory have always worked more 

» See p. yj. 



DESPATCHES 4II 

upon the Company's plantations than at the Fort, since all 
the brickwork required is done by them. I openly confess, 
Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, that I very well under- 
stand that YY. HH. cannot grasp the fact that seven 
carpenters and four bricklayers do not get through more 
work. Had we the good fortune and honour (as had those 
in Berbice) of having a member of Your Honours' body 
with us for but one year, YY. HH. would have quite different 
ideas. 

Heat and constant humidity produce fermentation and 
consequent rot; this is an immutable law in physics and 
chemistry. Hence the fact, as I have repeatedly had the 
honour of pointing out, that nothing lasts out here ; what 
will serve in Europe for 50 years or even longer will 
scarcely last ten here. Even iron and steel will rot away 
of themselves, though unused. Take for example my 
house (into which I moved in May, 1749) and in which all 
the wood-work was cypress (called iron-wood in Europe^). 
It was well and solidly built, and yet notwithstanding that 
it was well looked after (as YY. HH. can easily imagine), 
that several new doors and window-frames were put in, 
that a new roof was made and that the outer-gallery was 
re-bricked — notwithstanding all this it is in ruins, unin- 
habitable and utterly beyond repair, and that in thirteen 
years. The timber which in Europe has only to be fetched 
from the saw-mills according to measure must in this 
country be felled and squared in the woods hours off, 
dragged out and brought here by boat and then planed 
down to the required measurement before it can be put to 
any use. 

Whilst in Europe carts and horses are employed for 
bringing wood, stone and other materials to the spot where 



1 On account of its hardness. Siderondendron trifiorinn. Rich. 
Schomburgk, Reisen i?t Britisch Guiana^ 1848^ iii. p. 826. 



412 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

they are wanted everything here has to be dragged and 
brought up by negroes. The leaves for the roofs' have to 
be cut in Demerara, dragged to the water's edge and 
brought here by canoe ; the same with spars, etc. 

All this adduced as briefly as possible (for much more 
could be said) is the honest and irrefutable truth and if 
YY. HH. will kindly weigh it with deliberation I have little 
doubt that YY. HH. will agree that the complaints I made 
are just. 

I was fairly certain that the great reform^ would not 
increase the annual yield of sugar from Your Honours' plan- 
tations by a single hogshead and if I remember rightly I had 
the honour of foretelling as much to some members of 
Your Honours' body at the time. Experience has con- 
firmed my prophecy. 

Every change is not for the better, Noble and Right 
Honourable Sirs. A similar case was that of Your Honours' 
Posts ^ Had matters remained in statu quo what profits 
would they not have produced with the high price of 
annatto dye^? This is irreparable, for the Indians have 
neglected or cut down all their dye trees. 

Everything is going on pretty well at Post Arinda, 
I having discharged the Postholder on the last day of 
December 1762, on account of his neglect and unpardon- 
able laziness, and appointed the assistant, Hendrik Bakker, 
in his place ; but I have as yet selected no fresh assistant, 
because I would like to have a competent and trustworthy 
person. 

Whilst considering the importance of that Post and the 
meagre knowledge we have of it, I came to the resolve last 
year to send two persons, named EHas Lindgreen and 



1 " Troolie " (see p. 403). ^ See p. y]. 

^ Cf. p. 430. * See p. 289. 



DESPATCHES 413 

Joseph la Chau, who appeared to me very competent to 
undertake such a matter, up the River Demerary, and so 
to the Post and further up Essequibo for discovery. But 
as the best planned undertaking often miscarries, ill-luck 
willed that these two persons fell out, Joseph La Chau 
returning to me from the Post, and the other proceeding 
on his journey alone, from which I promise myself but 
little good. 

Joseph la Chau brought me one of the most exact 
accounts of his journey that I have ever seen, and since 
both that and the list of necessities made out by him in 
view of such an undertaking have convinced me of his 
fitness, I resolved to send the list immediately to Mr de 
Bruyn, with a request to furnish me with the things at the 
first opportunity. It is my intention to send the same 
person up river again as speedily as possible and well 
escorted, and to risk a little sum in this because I feel 
pretty certain that it will be of very great use, and bring 
us much profit, over and above the fact that an acquaint- 
ance with the interior and the course of our river is well 
worth the trouble expended ; the only reason why such 
was not done much earlier is that I had no proper people 
to do it\ 

The Postholder of Arinda has reported to me, and his 
report has been corroborated by Joseph la Chau, who came 



1 Pieter de Bruyn was Storm's agent in Zealand for his private 
affairs, and the despatch of the list to him leads to the inference 
that the Director-General regarded the expedition as a business 
venture of his own. That the W. I. C. so read his letter and 
determined to take over the matter for its own account seems 
probable from their reply, dated /u/y 20, i/6j, which ran : — 

"We approve the explorations which you intend having made 
above the Post Arinda, and likewise we have no doubt that, if they 
are carefully done, they will be of no slight importance to us. In 
view of this, we take upon ourselves the expenses occasioned thereby." 



414 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

down from the Post about that time, that the tribe of 
Manoas (usually called Magnouws here), being dissatisfied 
with the treatment they received from the Portuguese of 
Brazil, had resolved to come to this Colony to make a 
Treaty of Commerce with us, and that a strong body had 
set out with that object. Also that the Carib nation, 
jealous of its trade, had a few years before my arrival 
in this Colony (as the old Protocols show), been the means, 
by bringing false information, of getting the Envoys of 
that tribe badly treated (several of them having been 
killed), and that, moved by the same spirit, it had now 
assembled on hearing this news, and had lain in ambush 
for the Manoas in order to prevent their progress. This 
caused a sharp fight, in which both sides lost heavily ; but 
the Caribs were totally defeated and put to flight. The 
Manoas, feeling themselves too weak after their losses, 
postponed their journey till this year, and sent word to 
the Postholder that they would come down in such 
numbers as to have no fear of the Caribs. On the other 
hand, the Caribs are assembling from all sides in order 
to oppose them, so that it is possible that we shall this 
year see one of the bloodiest and most obstinate fights 
that has probably taken place in these parts for lOO years 
or more. I hope the Caribs may get a good hiding, 
because I have always wished to see a few Manoas here, 
being convinced that it would be of considerable advantage 
to this Colony, Mr Bandeyra, who was the second voice in 
Brazil, and who had fled from there on account of some 
difference with the Bishop of Pernambuco, and who had 
lodged with me here for some weeks, having given me full 
information concerning that tribe and the great advantages 
the Portuguese derived from it^ 

I have informed the Chiefs of the Manoas, through the 

^ Cf. pp. 464 and 614. 



DESPATCHES 4IS 

Parhavvaens^ their friends, that we should welcome them 
and receive them well ; that in order not to give umbrage 
they should, however, not come down stream in such great 
force, but that on arriving at the Post their Chiefs could 
come here under the escort of the Postholder or his assis- 
tant, whilst the others would wait there ; and that the 
Caribs would not dare to do anything to them whilst they 
were under that escort. I am very anxious to hear the 
outcome of this matter. 



The followhig despatch is the first of a series dealing ivith a 
crisis bronglit about by a general rising of slaves in 
Berbice. That colony was exploited by a '■'■ Societeit " in 
the same way as Esseqiiibo and Denierara were run by 
the West India Company — and with qnite as strict a 
regard for economy. The Governor was Wolfert Simon 
van HoogenJieim — like Storm, a man who had seen 
military service, afid who, on taking office in 1760, 

^ Paravilhanas seems the best form of the name, though we also 
find the same tribe called Parahans, Parhavianes, Paravianas, Para- 
vianos, Paravilhanos and Parauanas. Nicolas Horstman (in the long- 
lost account of his inland journey from Essequibo to Brazil, see 
pp. 167 — 174) records his stay of four months in a settlement of this 
tribe on the Essequibo near the mouth of the R. Siparuni, but from 
Storm we hear nothing of them until lydj, when they carry this 
message from him to the Manaos. Again there is silence con- 
cerning them until //dp, when Storm's emissary Jansse finds them 
on the banks of the Mahu, whither they had removed "being too 
greatly molested by the Caribs" (see p. 618). 

Joz^ Monteiro de Noronha, in an itinerary written in i^yo or ijji 
{Braz. A^'b. Brit. Attn. i. 89), speaks of the tribe as dwelling on the 
R. Tacutu, and Ribeiro de Sampaio, a Chief Magistrate on the 
R. Negro (see p. 25), calls them in 7777 {Braz. Art. Brit. Ann. i. 
pp. 109 and 132) still the ruling tribe on the R. Branco, the Indian 
name of which is Paraviana. These statements render it only the 
more interesting to find some of them, on the authority of Richard 
Schomburgk {Reiseti in Britisch Giiiana,\. p. 313), forming part of the 
British settlement at Pirara in 1840. 



4l6 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

found Berbice in a pitiable state owing to a long- 
continued epidemic and European neglect. In iy62 he 
tvrote home that there were fw more provisions or 
trading wares in stock and that there was a total lack 
of everything. " Your Honours cannot believe what a 
bad impression this makes upon the temperament of the 
slaves and in our critical circumstances worse restdts 
might easily ensued " This cry of distress" says Nets- 
cher'^, "gives a true idea of the sad state of Berbice at 
that period." The story of the revolt that van Hoogen- 
heim hid feared is sufficiently set out for our purpose in 
Storm's despatches. 

Berbice was tiot so far off Essequibo — a matter of 
8§ miles overland, ii^ by sea — but that the flame of 
rebellion might easily have spread had it not been checked 
in time ; as it was, Demerara was already in im'tninent 
danger. It was by Storvis energy and the aid of the 
English forces sent from Barbados that both Essequibo 
and Demerara were saved. 

P.R.O. 471/166 

March 17, 1763. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

I had the honour of informing YY. IIH. by 
Captains Roberts and Leger (by means of a supple- 
mentary letter sent out to sea with the boat of " 't Esse- 
quebo Welvaeren " and which caught the ship) of the sad 
reports received concerning the Colony of Berbice. 

I had flattered myself that things would not prove to 
be so bad as had been reported by the first fugitives. 
But, alas ! it is only too true. Administrative Councillors 
Bouguer and Perrotet, of that Colony, Councillor of Justice 
van Daelen, Lieutenant Sejourne and a large number of 
others who fled, together with many women and children, 

1 Op. cit. pp. 193, 194. 



DESPATCHES 417 

to Demerara, have given us but too certain news of the 
sad and pitiable fate of Berbice. A large number of 
colonists having fled to the Society's^ plantation " Dubbel- 
mine " were attacked there by the mutineers. They 
defended themselves bravely but the latter set fire to the 
house and then murdered them all in a gruesome manner. 
Among the victims are the Rev. Mr Ramring, his wife and 
sister-in-law, the whole Nicolas family, Manager Hoerle, 
Mrs George and seven children, and many others. 

All the plantations as far as the Fort were abandoned. 
What had happened to the Fort they did not know, since 
the whole river as far as that was occupied by the muti- 
neers, but they had grave fears about it, especially as the 
garrison was exceptionally weak through the despatch of 
most of the soldiers in pursuit of the first party of rebels. 
When half way to Demerara they heard several loud 
reports at night but were not certain whether they came 
from the Fort or from a plantation near by which has 
twelve powerful swivel-guns. 

The Commander of Demerara on receipt of these news 
summoned the Old Councillors and burgher officers in 
order to frame measures for the protection of the Colony ; 
they met on the 14th inst. and passed a number of resolu- 
tions. These were immediately sent here for ratification 
by the Court of Justice, a special meeting of which I had 
convoked for the i6th; the resolutions and regulations, 
having been carefully examined, were approved and ratified 
without amendment. This meeting sent a letter to the 
Governor of Berbice'^ by a white man via Mahaicony and 
Abary. 

Mr Persik's barque is in process of being armed here 
and will be sent to Berbice by sea as speedily as possible. 



^ See p. 415. 2 /^^ 

v. s. II. 27 



41 8 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Old-Captain^ Schutz will be in command and it will be 
manned by some sailors belonging to the vessels lying 
here in addition to the ordinary crew, 

I have summoned the burgher captains here and expect 
them to-day. The}' must draw up lists of the burghers 
and determine which of them are, at the first alarm, to 
come to the Fort with the Creoles set apart for that duty, 
and to proceed, if necessary (which the Almighty mercifully 
forfend), to Demerara, for which purpose Mr Zeagers' 
schooner lies ready. 

In a word, YY. HH., we have endeavoured to take every 
possible precaution and for the rest and above all we must 
hope and trust upon the protection and merciful support of 
the Almighty. 

I am writing by this same vessel via St Eustatius to the 
Directors of the Society of Berbice and shall this week 
write to Surinam and also, if there be an opportunity, as is 
probable, to Barbados, sending a copy hereof 

We shall do all that lies in our power to aid the poor, 
unfortunate fugitives. 

I remain, with deepest respect and esteem, 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

Your Honours' most humble and obedient servant 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 

P.S. — After this had been closed and copies already 
sent off to Barbados I was told by men sent out by the 
Commander of Demerara (this being the fifth express he 
sends) that in coming here they had spoken in the mouth 
of Demerara with Mr Jacobus Gelskerke, who had just 
arrived there in a big boat with all his slaves. From him 
they learnt that the Fort in Berbice was in the hands 

1 Another honorary title for veterans (see pp. 194 and 417). 



DESPATCHES 419 

of the rebels, that the Governor had retired to the ships 
with a party of men and had dropped down stream. Bad 
news, indeed. 

Demerara is in utmost danger. I hope for speedy 
assistance from YY. HH. I am really half dazed, getting 
no rest night or day and having to write about and see to 
everything. May the Almighty protect us ; in Him and 
His all-powerful support I put all my trust. 



P.R.O. 471/167 

May 2, 1763. 

(Extracts) 

By the vessels " De Gezusters " and " Spreeuwenburg" 
I had the honour of sending YY. HH. the first reports we 
received of the painful fate of our neighbouring colony 
Berbice ; having subsequently received further information 
I wrote to YY. HH. somewhat more fully via St Eustatius 
and Barbados. 

Since that time, YY. HH., I have not had a moment's 
rest, everything being in a tumult here and especially in 
Demerara, whence I have received one express after 
another by reason of the not ungrounded fear that it 
would be attacked by the mutineers from Berbice (in 
accordance with the latter's threats) and also because 
the spirit of revolt and mutiny appeared to be getting the 
mastery upon some of the topmost English plantations. 

Most of the women and children have left Demerara, 
some coming here, some going to St Eustatius. The able- 
bodied men have been forbidden to leave the Colony and 
every human effort has been made to stifle the revolt. I 
hope the Almighty may graciously grant His blessing 
thereunto. 



27 — 2 



420 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDES 

I am now beginning to realize the weakness of my 
garrison. Demerara, being most exposed to danger, could 
not be left without aid ; one sergeant, two corporals, a 
drummer and fourteen men are at present there and I 
have now only a sergeant, a corporal, a drummer and 
eighteen men here, three or four of whom are disabled 
through age or some other cause. With these, unless the 
burghers come up smartly, it is an absolute impossibility 
to hold the Fort if anything happen (which God forfend). 

How, too, can such be expected of the burghers, when 
twenty-four of them, with two officers and two non-coms. 
have gone to Demerara? Would they not try to join 
forces in order to defend their possessions and lives as far 
as possible? 

To see a colony like Berbice totally ruined and deserted 
in nine days, more than forty whites (according to report) 
massacred in the most barbarous manner, the Fort burnt 
and abandoned by the Governor, who retreated to the 
river mouth whilst the mutineers had the assurance to 
attack the vessels as they dropped down stream, to fire 
upon them from the shore (although for this they got well 
paid out) and to capture in sight of the ships a vessel in 
their wake containing ninety faithful slaves — these oc- 
currences fill everyone with terror and amazement. 

I thank God that in these circumstances it has pleased 
Him to grant me so much strength so shortly after a long 
and severe illness, for I did not think I could have endured 
half as much. Neither by night nor by day have I rest and 
I am not free from work for a moment. 

I had sent the letters going to YY. HH. via Barbados 
to Demerara with instructions to the Commander to 
despatch a barque lying up the river as speedily as 
possible to Barbados, to inform the Governor' and Mr 

^ Charles Pinfold, LL.D., arrived in the Colony May lo, ijjd, and 



DESPATCHES 421 

Clarke' of the sad fate of Berbice and of the danger, and 
to inquire whether it were not possible to come to the aid 
of that colony-. 

A small barque had just arrived there and set sail 
again at once with the letters. 

YV. HH. can easily imagine what consternation those 
letters caused there. Mr Clarke was immediately up and 
doing^ and on the second day after the arrival of the little 



left it May 26^ 1766^ "having," says Voytr {Hisfory of Barbados, 1808, 
p. 329), "exercised the executive authority with a propriety which 
added lustre to his reputation and afforded satisfaction to the com- 
munity over which he presided." He died Nov. 4, I78g, in the 80th 
year of his age. 

1 Gedney Clarke, for an account of whom see pp. 39-43. 

^ It is of interest to compare Storm's remarks on pp. 444, 445. 

3 The following letter {Brit. Mits. Eg. MSS. 1720— d. Note i 
on p. 448) addressed by Gedney Clarke to Count William Bentinck 
(see p. 276) is of interest here. 

Barbados, 3 April, 1763. 

My Lord, 

My Son when he was at the Hague, had the honour of 
being introduced to your Lordship; he wrote me that you had some 
discourse with him concerning that new Settlement of Demorary and 
that you was inclined to give it all proper encouragement : 

I am sorry to inform you, Sir, that Richard Wiltshire, Esq., a 
Gentleman who went over to make a purchase, had just arrived, when he 
heard that there was an Insurrection of the Negroes at Berbice ; that 
they had taken possession of the greatest part of the Plantations ; and 
that the Guvernour had blown up the Fort, and made his escape, on 
board a ship that lay very near ; That they gave out they wou'd 
proceed to Demorary and Isequebe and do the same there; Upon 
this Intelligence Mr Wiltshire returned as fast as he cou'd and arrived 
here last Monday evening; on Tuesday I dispatched a Vessel with 
some arms and ammunition and yesterday I dispatched a Ship of 
Eighteen Guns and two armed Brigantines, with Lieutenant Towers, 
and one hundred Marines and Sailors, that Cap* Wheelock, of his 
Majestys ship Pembroke (Admiral Rodney not being here) was so 
kind as to send in the Ship; In the Brigantines there were Cap' 
Jacob Smiths Company of Men, raised here, besides the Saylors ; and 
I shall send another Vessel over to-morrow ; so that I hope, if those 
Negroes dont pay the Visit before those Vessels arrive all may be safe ; 

I have wrote to Mr Gravesande and desired he wou'd order the 



422 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

barque in Barbados there sailed thence a frigate carrying 
sixteen pieces of heavy ordnance and a full crew and the 

Ships from Isequebe to Demorary and to make a proper stand there; 
As the Plantations are all upon the brink of the River one armed 
Vessel wou'd defend a Plantation against the attack of many thousand 
Negroes, but I do not expect that they will be sent. I dispatched 
also a Vessel on Tuesday to Governor De Windt desiring he wou'd, 
without delay, send up some armed sloops and men. The Negroes of 
Berbice, it is said, have sent to Demorary that those that will not join 
them they will cut of. 

I have, Sir, had great trouble and been at a vast expence in my 
Buildings and to clear the Plantations that my Sons and friends have 
there ; and now, just as they are brought into order, to have them 
destroyed hurts me greatly ; And this I must take the liberty to say is 
owing to the neglect and indolence of those that had the Care and 
direction of those Colonys ; They have known that the Inhabitants in 
Berbice have been reduced greatly within the last three Years ; I do 
not know how many soldiers there were there ; I know there are none 
at Demorary; and I think not aboveTwenty at Isequebe. By this piece 
of parsimony the States will loose the best Settlement in the West 
Indies. 

You may judge Sir of that by my assuring you that every year, 
after the next, I and my son G. C. shou'd have certainly produced 
from our Estates as much Sugar, Rum, Rice and Indigo as wou'd 
amount to near Twenty thousand pounds Sterling. I have reason 
Sir to complain, and I do so not only for myself, but in behalf of 
every Inhabitant in that River ; I will take upon me to say that if the 
blow be even now warded of, it will never thrive under the direction 
and management it now is ; if the States will take it into their own 
hands and send a Governour of some consequence with a Regiment 
and make it a free Port, it will very soon exceed every other Settle- 
ment they have in the West Indies: At present the Company allow 
their Governour not so much as I do the Manager of one of my 
Plantations. 

In short. Sir, everything has gone on so heavily and in such a 
languid manner that I have been very uneasy for some time; I am 
now much more so. I wou'd not have presumed to have taken up so 
much of your Lordship's lime and wrote in this free and open manner 
did I not beleive that you wou'd be glad to know the particulars I 
have mentioned ; and I think if I had not given your Lordship this 
Information I wou'd not have been excused. 

1 am with great respect. 
Your Lordship's most humble and most obedient servant, 

Gedney Clarke. 



DESPATCHES 423 

barque itself laden with guns and ammunition, both of 
which reached Demerara after a very short voyage. 

These were followed two days later by two heavily 
armed brigantines, carrying a company of seventy-five, 
exclusive of the crew, and comprising altogether about 
three hundred men. This speedy succour brought tran- 
quillity back to Demerara and caused most of those who 
had fled down the river to return to their homes and their 
\vork\ 

The Governor of Barbados having sent word to the 
Commander of Demerara by the captain of the frigate that 
in the event of my asking for assistance in the name of 
Their High Mightinesses it would immediately be sent me, 
I resolved, after long deliberation and reflexion, to ask for 
the aid of two hundred men and the necessary equipment^ 
should the state of affairs after due examination require it. 
I think that, with the Lord's blessing, this would leave little 
cause for fear, and I think it better to incur these somewhat 
heavy costs than to lose all. 

Great is the state of despondency here, as YY. HH. can 
well imagine, and the worst and most dangerous is that it 
is being too openly exhibited ; I am not left in peace for a 
moment and can only write by scraps and shreds. Then, 
too, I am so worn out that I can scarcely get along; added 
to this the impossibility of satisfying people is enough to 
make one half mad. 

With the Barbados packet-boat I am informed that in 
reply to the express sent thence to the Governor of St 

^ Gedney Clarke, in a letter dated June 6, ijdj {Brit. Mus. Eg. 
MSS. i'/2o) to his son, then in London, writes : — " It is very evident 
if I had not sent over the five vessels, that I did so expeditiously, that 
Demerary and Essequebo would have been lost — the Inhabitants of 
the upper part of Demerary were flying as fast as possible...." 

2 This resolve it was not necessary to carry out. See note, p. 445. 



424 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Eustatius\ His Honour had resolved to send to Demerara 
as speedily as possible two vessels with armed crews, which 
are hourly expected therel 

At the beginning of these troubles I had sent to Upper 
Essequibo to warn the Indian tribes, and, if possible, to get 
them to take up arms. They did, indeed, hold their arms 
in readiness, but went no farther. It has therefore been 
resolved by the Court that Joseph de Meijer, a person who 
is well acquainted with all the inland roads, and has a per- 
fect knowledge of the languages, is to go up the river and 
place himself at the head of the tribes; that he is closely to 
besiege the upper part of Berbices, close all the passes, and 
capture, living or dead, all who take that road, the Post- 
holder having strict orders to accompany him, and to afford 
him aid in all matters. 

The aforesaid Meijer has orders to send expresses from 
time to time informing us of all that he learns, and to hold 
himself in readiness, in case it should be necessary to attack 
the rebels from the side of Demerary (of which he would be 
immediately informed), to drop down stream with his men 
in order to assist in the attack. 

I have written this week to the Governor of Surinam, 
and by a boat which I am dispatching in a few days' time 
to Berbices I shall write to the Governor there to acquaint 
him with these measures. 

The Commander of Demerara^ has written to inform me 
that he has taken the liberty of asking YY. HH. for his dis- 
charge. I cannot help feeling that he is right in doing so 
(as I have told him) for it is quite impossible for him to make 

1 ...den loyalen en menschlievenden {Jan) de M^t'nd... (Netscher, 
0/>. cit. p. 218). 

2 These two vessels, however, never came to Demerara, but were 
.detained in Berbice (see pp. 426, 427). 

3 See p. 335. 



DESPATCHES 425 

both ends meet and I fear that under the present circum- 
stances he will get so backward that it will take him quite 
a time to get straight. Wherefore I take the liberty of 
endorsing his request, of begging YY. HH. graciously to 
grant it and to send another competent person in his 
place. 

The number of my years, increasing weakness and ail- 
ments no longer permit me to do and to act as I would like, 
and finding daily that I am getting gradually less able 
properly to discharge my duties and in a manner after 
my own heart, having, moreover, by the Lord's goodness 
and unfailing mercy attained this measure of years and 
been graciously preserved and protected, it is time and high 
time. Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, to think of the 
great voyage to Eternity and to employ the little time 
which the Lord in His mercy will still grant me in His 
service. 

Wherefore I take the liberty of begging YY. HH. most 
humbly and earnestly to be pleased graciously to grant me 
my discharge and dismissal from my duties, thanking 
YY. HH. at the same time from the bottom of my heart for 
so many and such various favours and benefits which 
YY. HH. have in my twenty-five years' service been 
pleased to bestow upon me and for which I shall as 
long as I live preserve an indelible gratitude and a heart 
full of thanks. I have at the same time the honour to 
assure YY. HH. that although discharged from Your 
Honours' service I shall, as long as I live, remain faith- 
ful to the Honble. Co., and ever hold myself in readiness 
to do all that my strength permits whenever my services 
might be required ^ 



' The application for discharge was repeated in September of the 
same year (see pp. 434-437). 



426 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 471/193 

June 20, 1763. 
(Extracts) 

Hoping that all my previous despatches concerning 
Berbice and this Colony, as well those by vessels de- 
parting hence as those via Barbados and St Eustatius, will 
have reached YY. HH. long before the arrival of this one, 
and that the necessary measures have already been taken 
by YY. HH., there h€ix\^ periailuin in mora, I shall have the 
honour of continuing herein my report of events since my 
last by " D'Essequebo Planter." 

By the Lord's unmerited goodness and mercy we are 
still at peace and continue to do all in our power to employ 
every possible means of maintaining that peace. 

Fully relying not only upon Governor de Wind's letter 
to Mr Clarke in Barbados but also upon His Honour's 
despatch to me that the two manned and armed barques 
would come from St Eustatius to Demerara^ it was my in- 
tention to send those crews over land to the upper part of 
Berbice and to post them on the highest plantation there. 
• • • • • 

By a change in Mr de Wind's measures this plan fell 
through for His Honour, having sent the two barques direct 
to Berbice^ (where, since I am unacquainted with the cir- 

^ See p. 424. 

^ Though Count Bentinck's views communicated in the following 
letter i^Brit. Miis. Eg. MSS. 1720) to Gedney Clarke, Jr., then in 
London, could not possibly have influenced the Colonial Governors so 
directly, it is interesting to have them as commentary on the above, 
and as indicative of his sympathy. 

To Gedney Clarke, Junr., Esq. 

Hague, June 28, 1763. 
Sir, 

I am favoured with your Letter of the i6th inst. What 
occupies the present attention is the sending immediate succour to 
the Berbices and rescuing that colony. What relates to the security, 



DESPATCHES 427 

cumstances, I presume they were much more necessary) 
instead of to Demerara, and the captains thereof having 
come to an agreement concerning the premiums with 
Governor van Hoogenheim, we are obHged to wait and 
see what the upshot will be. 

" Het Essequebo Welvaeren " having sailed for Europe 
and "Het Hof van Ramsburg" being about to follow 
shortly "Het Loo" will go and lie in Demerara, for I 
cannot allow it to depart before another vessel from Europe 
takes its place, since it would be unjustifiable in these critical 
circumstances to leave that river without ships, and one is 

conservation and improvement of the neighbouring Colonys does not 
deserve least attention. The share you have in that of Demerary and 
Isequebo and your possessions there have given you an opportunity of 
judging by your own observations what difficuhys there are in effec- 
tuating any timely and proportionable measure. I flatter myself that 
the misfortune happened at Berbices will open people's eyes and 
convince them of the absolute and indispensable necessity of taking 
precautions to prevent the like happening in all the other colonys. 
Which I own that I dread and am in much more fear about them 
than others who, by the interest they have there, seem to be. I shall 
be mightily obliged to you if you will be so good as to send me the 
materials which might serve for forming a plan, for the greatest 
advantages of our colonys in America. I am affraid that the whole 
establishment of them is defectuous in many points. Nobody can 
furnish better materials than your father, who, by what I see, as well 
as by what I hear of him from others must be a man of superior genius, 
talents and spirit, and whose experience and knowledge of that part of 
the globe, as well as of what is the nature of a colony make him more 
proper than any body to give the necessary informations. You may 
be sure that I will make the best advantage of what ever he will 
be pleased to send me and do my utmost endeavours to remove the 
difficultys which might obstruct the execution of what he might 
propose....! beg you would present my most sincere and hearty 
compliments to your father and assure him that I neglect no oppor- 
tunity of doing him justice nor of shewing in its true light the spiritted 
and manly part he has acted in this affair, which will be acknowledged 
by those who have the benefit of this important service. 

I am. Sir, 

W. Bentinck. 



428 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

not even enough and causes dissatisfaction. If the English 
vessels were not there one ship would certainly have to lie 
up the river and one down stream, and the big vessels are 
little suited to send up the river. I was very pleased to 
receive a letter yesterday from the Commander of Demerara 
informing me that Mr Sampson, a burgher of that river, had 
offered his small Bermudan barque, which is well armed 
and commanded by his son, for the country's service, for I 
could get no better or more suitable vessel, to proceed either 
up and down the river or to Berbice. Wherefore I im- 
mediately wrote to Mr Spoors to ascertain his feelings on 
the matter; he having replied that in his opinion it was 
absolutely necessary to engage the barque I, with equal 
despatch, bade the Commander do so and to agree to pay 
up to 400 or 450 guilders per month. 



P.R.O. 471/215 

Sept. 27, 1763. 
(Extracts) 

If the sugar planters generally, both those of the 
Honble. Co. and private ones, would in cultivating the 
grounds follow the example of Messrs A. van der Cruysse 
and C. Boter as now shown on Varken Island and also 
the example of the English in boiling the kiltum the yields 
would undoubtedly be considerably greater than they are 
now. For if we look coolly at van der Cruysse's yields 
and at the number of his slaves the thing is conclusive and 
irrefutable. 

Hereupon those unversed in matters here must naturally 
ask, " Why have you, being chief in command, not had 
things done in this way? " — a question which must certainly 
follow my conclusion but which I can easily and briefly 
answer. For expecting, upon the arrival of the first vessel, 



DESPATCHES 429 

to hand over the command to those whom YY. hh. shall 
have been pleased to honour therewith I hope YY. HH, will 
graciously permit me to write in plain words and goed rond 
goed zeeuws \sic\. 

In reply then to this question which I have put to 
myself I will say that when, being in Europe in the year 
175 1, I was, by command of His Late Serene Highness 
of most laudable memory, handed the letter-book of this 
Colony I read there that concerning the work of the plan- 
tations I was quite ignorant, which in plain Dutch means 
knownng or understanding nothing about it ; it was further 
made clear to me that these words had created an im- 
pression, inasmuch as all that I had personally done for 
the improvement of the plantations, such as their removal 
further down, their digging over, and other matters too 
long to adduce, were put down to another's credit, so that 
I might indeed say with the poet : — 

Hos ego versiailos feci, tiilit alter honores. 
Sic vos non nobis nidificatis aves, &c.^ 

Seeing further, after my return here, that my sugges- 
tions did not meet with the same favour as before, that 
they were regarded quite other than they had been during 
my former twelve years of service and that the administra- 
tion of the plantations was no longer in my hands but, 
although conjunctini, in those of another^, who consequently 
carried off all the honour, leaving nothing but toil and 
trouble for me — seeing also that differences were most 
disagreeable to YY. HH., I preferred to give way and no 
longer to interfere in those matters except when my opinion 



^ Though Storm was not a native of Zealand he was very fond of 
applying this expression (which may be freely rendered "frank as a 
Zeelander") to his own outspokenness — cf. pp. 629 and 644. 

2 Cf. p. 355. 

3 Adriaan Spoors, the Secretary. Cf. p. 38. 



430 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE'S 

was asked, giving it then outright and without circumlocu- 
tion, both in the Court of Policy and outside it. 

Leaving the plantations I will now turn to the affairs 
of the Colony, which, relating to two distinct rivers, although 
to one Colony, require two separate articles. 

Beginning with Essequibo, I will first mention the 
Posts or so-called trading-places, four in number, of the 
Honourable Company. 

The first is Maroco, situated between this river and 
Orinoco, under the direction of which are the Rivers of 
Pomeroon and Weyni, full of Indians of the Carib, Arawak, 
and Warouw nations, whose help is always required, both 
by the Company and by private salters and traders, and 
who have also to be kept in a continual sort of subjection 
in order to prevent the escape of runaway slaves, and to 
facilitate their capture. 

The road to the Spaniards leads past this Post, so that 
no one can go that road without the knowledge of the 
Postholder, who therefore, if he wishes, can generally get 
to know what is going on in Orinoco. This Post was of 
very great importance when trade was still carried on 
there for the Honourable Company ; it then furnished 
oreane dye^ and boats, and since the cessation of the 
trade there is a great want of the latter. 

On the other side of the river is the second, namely, 
Maycouni, between Demerary and Berbices. The chief 
use of this Post just now is really to keep possession of 
the country, for without it Maycouni would already have 
been inhabited some time from another side, concerning 
which matter I had the honour to write fully some years 
ago. 

Formerly this Post used to furnish a considerable 



^ Another name for annatto or arnotto. Cf. p. 2I 



DESPATCHES 431 

quantity of oreane dye and boats, as is to be seen in 
the old business books. 

The third is Post Arinda, up in Essequibo, really 
intended for the trade in red slaves and dye and for the 
further exploration of the lands and tribes of the interior, 
as well as to prevent the slaves making off in that direction. 

The fourth, and last, is the still abandoned Post in 
Cuyuni, abandoned since the raids of the Spaniards, a Post 
of the very greatest importance, because the Spaniards, in 
order to get to this river, and the slaves in order to escape 
to them, have a free and open road, and also because the 
Spaniards have driven away the Caribs who lived there, 
and who could apprehend and bring back the runaways. 

Having finished with the Posts I will now turn to this 
islands And what am I to say of it, Noble and Right 
Honourable Sirs, but what I have so often said before, with 
which I am afraid I have often wearied YY. HH. but which 
I deemed it my bounden duty to do ? 

I beg YY. HH. not to take it amiss if I obey my con- 
science and say once more in my last report that it is as 
impossible to keep the Fort and dwellings in any sort of 
order with the present number of men as it is to reach 
Heaven with one's hands. I shall not dilate further upon 
this, having done so sufficiently in my former letters — the 
dwellings dilapidated, the cannon without gun-carriages, 
the batteries out of repair, the beams of the redoubt already 
propped up, the great platform falling in, in a word, every- 
thing in a pitiable state. I live in a house in which I 
can scarcely turn, and can therefore lodge no one; I am 
compelled to hold the Court meetings in the preacher's 
house because there is no room in mine, and I have not yet 
been able to find time to pull down the old Government 
house, let alone build a new one. What will be the end of 

^ Flag Island, on which stood Fort Zeelandia. Cf. p. 198. 



432 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

all this ? Besides the house I now inhabit there is abso- 
lutely no dwelling for my successor or the Commandant 
when they arrive, wherefore some weeks ago I purchased at 
my own expense for eleven hundred guilders a house which 
just happened to come up for sale, and which will still cost 
me just as much for repairs. 

With regard to the private plantations all is, the Lord 
be praised, fairly peaceful and tranquil up to now ; the 
plantations and their inhabitants do not increase consider- 
ably, it is true, but neither do they decrease, and everything 
remains mostly upon the old footing. Products, with the 
Lord's blessing, go on pretty favourably and the coffee 
plantations in this river, although very lew in number, are 
rapidly advancing. But just as some years ago complaints 
were general concerning the lack of ships they are now just 
as numerous with regard to the fact that all arrive together. 
The result is that it is impossible to execute all the charter- 
parties without leaving other absolutely necessary work at 
a standstill, and in this way the plantations must needs go 
backward. 

With regard to Demerara YY. HH. are fully aware how 
much care and trouble I took for populating and furthering 
the progress of that river, commenced under my direction, 
M^hat opposition and reverses I had to contend with, how I 
looked after the Honble. Co.'s interests when the river was 
opened, how I watched over the allotment of grounds, so 
recklessly managed here, and how, in a word, I did all that 
was humanly possible for the interests of my masters and 
the welfare of the colonists, two aims that ought never to 
be separated. 

It had pleased the Almighty so far to bless those efforts 
that I already began to see the desired results and to foster 
hopes, not ungrounded, that I might, if to some extent 
supported, see that river in a flourishing state, when all 



DESPATCHES 433 

those fine prospects were suddenly destroyed by the 
calamity that befell the colony of Berbice, concerning 
which more hereafter. 

The plantations in Demerara have gone back very much 
since March, especially those situated higher up^ ; this 
could not well be otherwise, on account of the constant fear 
in which they were, not without reason, for had it not been 
for the speedy despatch of the Creoles and a few soldiers 
from this river and the aid, following so shortly upon it, 
from Barbados, Demerara would, according to human 
reckoning, have been lost and would certainly have been 
followed by the loss of Essequibo. For we may not flatter 
ourselves. Your Honours. In this so widely outspread river 
it would have been impossible to assemble and consequently 
to offer any resistance, and I being unable to procure any 
assistance (even from Surinam, as Berbice was still able 
to do) we could not have held out in the long run against 
such odds and would have been obliged to give in and be 
lost^ 



^ Compare, however, his subsequent remarks in the same despatch 

(p. 438). 

^ Gedney Clarke, in a letter to Count Bentinck, dated Barbados, 
Deceinber 28, 176J, says : — 

" I am far from ascribing any merit to myself; but it is certain had 
I not sent the timely aid, and in the manner, I did, that Demorary 
and Isequebe wou'd have been cut off; and Surinam wou'd in time 
have followed ; and in course the States wou'd have lost that whole 
Continent. 

" What a pity is it that those Rivers have been thus neglected ! If 
Demorary in particular, an infant Settlement, of a few Years, had been 
encouraged properly I assure you Sir that it wou'd, by this time, have 
been full of Inhabitants and brought in a great Revenue ; But it has 
been neglected, in a most shameful manner; and for my part, I do not 
expect it much better under the direction of a Company; but if they 
are to continue so I hope and intreat that Demorary may be under a 
seperate Government; They want no manner of assistance, or any 
thing else, from Isequebe ; The Inhabitants of that River have allways 
V. S. II. 28 



434 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

InDemerara the close proximity of the plantations might 
have enabled the burghers to assemble and to offer some 
resistance, but here that was impossible. 

In Berbice matters are still in a sad state and I fear that 
unless assistance from Europe is shortly forthcoming the 
Governor will have to give up his task. The danger is 
doubly enhanced by the mutiny of 70 Surinam soldiers in 
the Corentin — a serious event as unexpected as it is unin- 
telligible — though before it happened there appeared to be 
some prospect of salvation. The copies of the letters thence 
will give YY. HH. an insight into affairs there. 

The Governor of Berbice having done me the honour of 
asking me to let him know as speedily as possible my ad- 
vice and feelings respecting the line to be taken up by him 
in the present state of affairs I despatched a vessel with 
letters thither about eighteen days ago, and this not having 
yet returned I am sorely perplexed, not knowing how to 
account for its being so long delayed ^ 

Next October it will be twenty-six years since I had the 
honour of entering the Honble. Co.'s service and on the 
13th of May last it was twenty-five years since I arrived in 
this Colony. In all that time I have, to the best of my 
knowledge, done all in my power, putting my own welfare 
aside, to promote the Company's true interests (at least, as 
they presented themselves to me) and to increase its 
revenues, not losing sight of the private planters' welfare, 

looked upon Demorary with a jealous eye." {Brit. Miis. Eg. MSS. 
1720.) 

1 In a letter dated January 16, 1764 (communicated to us by the 
courtesy of Dr R. Fruin), Governor van Hoogenheim writes: — 
" In those exceedingly unfortunate. ..circumstances. ..the consequences 
of which have been most dire, I found great help in the friendly cor- 
respondence I kept up with good, old Heer Storm van 's Gravesande... 
in whose wise and well-tried advice I always concurred concerning 
matters of moment." 



DESPATCHES 435 

which I regard as inseparable from the former. During 
that period, too, I have received many and various benefits 
from YY. HH., for which I have always tried to be, and shall 
remain, most grateful. 

I have always treated the Company's servants and the 
private planters with every possible consideration and 
amiability, have never let anyone who wished to see me 
wait half-an-hour, night or day, nor received them in 
unfriendly fashion ; never have I detained a skipper a 
single day or let him wait for me. Riches I have never 
hunted nor sought after and during such long service I have 
never troubled YY. HH. for the least increase of salary. It 
is true that YY. HH. did once please to give me an increase 
of 300 guilders per year, but this was done unasked and by 
Your Honours' especial favour and generosity, thus in- 
creasing the obligation of the recipient. Yet, Noble and 
Right Honourable Sirs, I can honestly assure YY. HH. that 
notwithstanding that great increase my income is at pre- 
sent less than was that of my predecessor, whilst my 
expenses are incomparably greater than were his. This 
may appear paradoxical to YY. HH. but I will take the 
liberty of submitting it in a brief sketch. 

When I arrived in this Colony the Company was accus- 
tomed to furnish its servants' households with all the most 
requisite things, such as serviettes, table-cloths, candle- 
sticks, plates, dishes, pots and pans, &c. That has stopped. 

When each fortnight divine service was held at the 
Fort my predecessor had from each plantation pigs, fowls, 
ducks — in a word, all that his table required. This has 
also been discontinued by later regulations. In addition 
to the poultry he got an ox from the plantations both at 
every Court meeting and on high days and holidays ; this 
alone amounts to well over 300 guilders annually. The 
Posts, which were still trading then, brought him abundance 
of fowls ; I have seen as many as eighty brought in at 

28—2 



43^ STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

once. Hammocks, basket-work and many other necessaries 
he received from the same source, and although of h'ttle 
value in themselves they still mounted up. The Honble. 
Co. suffered no loss by all this. A fowl cost a knife or two, 
a hammock four ells of salempouri or cotton and it was all 
amply repaid by what was got in barter at the Posts for 
the Honble. Co.'s account. Maize for poultry-feeding he 
got in abundance, whilst I was obliged to buy it from the 
colonists at the rate of five guilders per thousand head. 
Many other small things I will omit for the sake of brevity. 

From the above YY. HH. will, I hope, be convinced of 
the truth of what I said before. Since my return from 
Europe I have been compelled to put up with much 
opposition, contumely and contempt and have seen my 
best intentions either clandestinely or openly thwarted. 
I have borne all with the utmost patience, hoping that it 
would all some day stop and that by going quietly to work 
I would live it all down. My sole consolation in all this 
was a good conscience, the knowledge that I had nothing 
of any import to reproach myself with, and the honour of 
having so often received Your Honours' gracious approval 
of my conduct, as I gratefully admit to have been the case 
only in Your Honours' last letter. Wherefore too I held 
out as long as it pleased the Almighty to favour me with 
sufficient strength. 

But now approaching my sixtieth year, an age at which 
it is customary to retire from public affairs, and which, 
according to ancient law and custom, justifies discharge 
therefrom, and feeling my strength and power daily 
diminishing I thought it at last time to retire and to 
seek some rest. 

Wherefore taking the liberty of assuring YY. HH. of my 
heartfelt and eternal gratitude for such manifold benefits 
received, attributing my vexations in no wise to YY, HH. 
but to my enemies and to those who envy me my peace and 



DESPATCHES 437 

honour, and thinking (though possibly I may be mistaken) 
that these have frequently misled YY. HH. by fine words, I 
have the honour once more to assure YY. HH. that as long 
as I live or am in this country I shall never be found 
wanting when my humble judgment or advice is asked and 
shall always be ready to further the service and interest of 
the Honble. Co. 

I implore the Most High to bestow upon YY. HH., Your 
Honours' persons, families and dear ones His choicest 
blessings, so to influence Your Honours' deliberations that 
the choice of my successor may fall upon one excelling me 
in every part and who having at heart the Honble. Co.'s 
interest and the Colony's welfare may succeed to perfection 
with both'. 

Not trusting my health and strength I have written 
this in advance and three weeks before the departure of 
the vessel ; if anything of importance happen before she 
starts I shall have the honour to let it follow hereupon. 

I have returned from a four weeks' stay in Demerara 
because I deemed it absolutely necessary to be present at 
the Court meeting. The Rev. Mr Lingius preached twice 
there and came back with me. I went to inspect nearly 
all the lower plantations with Mr van Grevenbroek and 
walked round them. 

But, YY. HH., my amazement was great to see such a 
change and such progress in a year's time, and that in spite 
of the critical circumstances which threw the work back a 
good deal. That river is not only equal to this but far 



^ Instead of granting Storm his discharge (for which he had 
already applied in May of the same year (see p. 425)) the Directors 
wrote expressing their approval of his conduct and sent him a present 
(usually consisting of a hogshead of wine); see p. 444. The Director- 
General makes no further allusion to the matter until February^ lydj 
(see p. 482). 



438 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

excels it, both in the regularity with which the plantations 
are laid out and cultivated and even in the yields. There 
are plantations which will produce far more than three 
hundred hogsheads of sugar a year ; the coffee plantations 
are in such unsurpassable condition that those who have 
not seen them would certainly not believe it. 

But though expectations are, under the Lord's blessing, 
great, general discontent and murmuring is not less so, 
seeing that the end of September has now come and not 
the least assistance has yet arrived from Europe. 

The Chief of the Acuway tribe up in Demerary has 
come down with two negro girls and three hands of 
negroes, bringing information that he had made a night 
attack upon the plantation " De Savonnette," in Upper 
Berbice, and killed fifty-five negroes, men, women, and 
children, of the rebels ; that on the approach of the neigh- 
bouring rebels he had been obliged to desist, his party 
being only twenty-seven strong, and that he had therefore 
retired without having one man killed or wounded ; that 
on the journey back he had met a considerable number of 
Caribs making their way to Berbice, to whom he had given 
all the necessary information. He asked for nine rifles, 
powder and shot, to return to Berbice immediately, and 
join the Caribs in attacking the rebels. These were given 
him, together with some necessary instructions, which he 
promised to bear in mind. 

Three canoes full of Caribs from Wayni passed this 
river on their way to Corentin, bent on the same errand. 



DESPATCHES 439 

P.R.O. 471/216 

Sept. 28, 1763. 
(Extract) 

P.S. After writing this letter I hear that the discontent 
is getting so great and general, especially in Demerara, 
that I fear for the consequences. The aid sent by " Het 
Land Canaan " is so small in proportion to the immensity 
of the danger and the blame being mostly laid to my 
charge, I shall, I fear, be compelled to lay my letters to 
vv. HH. before the Court Meeting next Monday in order to 
convince it that I have done my duty. 



P.R.O. 471/220 

October 18, 1763. 
(Extract) 

I have had the honour of sending YY. HH. in several of 
my letters successive reports concerning the state of affairs 
in Berbice and the great danger this Colony runs of be- 
coming involved in those grievous matters ; I have further 
begged Mr de Wind, the Governor of St Eustatius, to 
submit to YY. HH., by every opportunity that presents 
itself, how great the danger is. Mr Clarke informed me 
that he had done so by six consecutive packet-boats. 
Wherefore I had reason to flatter myself that I would have 
been already long since reinforced with substantial aid, 
which would at least have placed these rivers beyond 
danger and enabled me to help the sufferers. For if the 
rebels be attacked in Berbice and we are unable to act here 
it will be a matter lasting years and involving nameless 
cost ; if their retreat in this direction is unhindered the 
rebels will be able to form settlements everywhere in the 
up-river lands and so continually disturb us, becoming also 



440 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

a refuge for our malcontent slaves, as the experience of 
Surinam testifies. 

I learn to my sorrow from Your Honours' letter that 
YY. HH. imagine the danger will have passed over before 
the receipt of the same. Far is it from being so ; the 
danger is as great, if not greater than it ever was. The 
Governor of Berbice is at his wits' end, and according to 
his last letter not able to hold out for more than another 
fortnight. 



P.R.O. 471 

December 21, 1763. 
(Extract) 

Being compelled to put off my reply to Your Honours' 
esteemed letter per " De Hoop " until the departure of " De 
Goede Verwachting," which is fixed for about the middle of 
January, and which vessel will take 50 hogsheads of sugar 
from Your Honours' plantations, I will let this serve only 
to accompany the copy of a letter^ received last week from 

^ Since Storm gives the gist of the letter its reproduction is un- 
necessary, but the following one from Gedney Clarke, Jr. (who was in 
London at the time), and its interesting enclosure, give a graphic 
description of this episode in the revolt. 

P.R.O. 471/224 

London, 20th March, 1764. 

To the Honble. the Directors of the West India Company 
of Zeeland. 
Gentlemen, 

I take the Liberty to inclose you an account of the Trans- 
actions at Demerary & at les Berbices in December last, by which you 
will find that the Rebell Negroes have been very roughly handled by 
our People from Demerary & that they are now between two Fires, so 
that I hope soon to hear they are all destroyed. 

The Cargoe of the Ship Carolina Medioburgensis being 307 in 
number sold together I am informed @ f. 400 round, which is a great 
Price & should encourage the Gentlemen of Middelburg to send two 
other Ships to d'Elmina without the least delay for the use of our 
Colony & to raise a small Bank of Credit to enable People to purchase, 
but you Gentlemen are the best judges of these matters & I hope will 



DESPATCHES 44I 

the Governor of Berbice, from which YY. HH. will see that 
His Honour is actually on the march to attack the rebels, 

take every necessary Step for the Interest & the advancement of those 
fertile Rivers*. 

The cruel Rebellion at Berbices is no doubt by this time quelled & 
the Negroes of Demerary have been all along kept in awe by the 
Steadiness of the Inhabitants, for had they deserted their Habitations, 
as those of Berbices did that River & Essequebo would now have 
been in the Possession of those merciless Savages, who would un- 
doubtedly have massacred all the White People that fell into their 
hands. 

But thanks to God ! We are all safe, and with your Permission, I 
would recommend a Speedy Way of securing that Colony for ever. 
It is no more than building a few Houses on Borssele Island in 
Demerary and a proper Battery there also with a Garison of 30 men 
& an officer. Upon that Island the Comandent should live & the 
Courts of Judicature held there and a small Church built with a House 
for the minister & the Ships should be ordered to lay there when they 
go into that River for Sugar. The remainder of the Land might after- 
wards be sold for the advantage of the Company, as many People 
would chuse to live there, especially Tradesmen & their Families, so 
that in a short time there would be a considerable Town raised there, 
well inhabited. This would keep the Negroes in proper Respect & in 
case of Warr would serve to defend the Colony. And the undertaking 
could be executed with ease, if you Gentlemen would give orders to 
employ your Negroes upon that service & lay a Tax to defray the 
Expenses and at the same time raise a Subscription for that Purpose. 

I have nothing further to say but that I am with Respect, 
Gentlemen, 

Your most obedient 

and very humble servant, 

Gedney Clarke, Junr. 

p.R.o. 471/225 

[Inclosure.] 

Transactions in Rio Berbices and Dimerary from good authority 
which happened in December 1763. 

Upon the Arrival of 3 men of War & some Merchant Ships the 
Governor of Berbices notwithstanding the 2 Battalions sent by the 

* Elmina or St George del Mina, long a fortified seaport on the Gold 
Coast, West Africa, 10 miles W. of Cape Coast Castle, was formerly the 
capital of the Dutch possessions in Guinea. Founded by the Portuguese, 
under the name of Sao Jorge da Mina, in f^Sf, it was taken by the Dutch in 
i6j7 and ceded by them to the British in /S72. Clarke's letter leaves no 
doubt as to the use to which the port was put. 



442 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

and that in accordance with our arranged plan he had 
sent sixty men to Demerara to march overland and post 

States were not yet come, thought himself at that juncture strong 
enough to attack the rebells & he found himself in some measure 
under y'' necessity of doing so before any infectious disorders got 
among the People. 

A council of war was therefore called & it was determined to 
pursue the plan formerly laid down betwixt him and Governor 
Gravesande viz. to detach a body of men to Demerary from thence 
to march across the country to La Savonette Plantation in Berbices, 
where the Rebells thought themselves secure, to make themselves 
masters of that plantation & by that means to get the negroes between 
two fires. 

In consequence of this Resolution a Detachment of 60 men arrived 
in Demerary the beginning of Dec'' they were joined by Cap" Smith 
with his Barbados Volunteers sent by Mr Clarke for the Protection of 
the Colony & the Command of the Expedition was given to Capt° 
Smith, whose bravery had been often tryed. 

This little army sett off about the middle of Dec"" from the upper 
part of Rio Demerary & after a very fatigueing march of 5 days 
through that immence forest (trees only for their covering al night) 
they got to y'^ bounderies of La Savonette, where Smith halted & sent 
forward two faithfull Indians to reconnitre, with orders to be upon 
their guard & at the same time to be as particular as possible...; 
These fellows went on & having mounted on a tree near the Plan- 
tation building they perceiv'd about 20 of the Rebells patrolling before 
their garrison & keeping centry. The remainder scatterd about 
unarmed. They soon return'd & made their report, upon which 
Cap" Smith formed his corps into three divisions, marching himself 
in the center & ordered them to give three huzzas, as soon as they 
got within gun shot of the Rebells & proceed to action. This was 
perform'd with courage & regularity & y'' Rebells perceiving them 
flew to their arms & made a bold resistance for some time being 150 
in number, but Smith charged them so closely that they took to their 
heels & endeavoured to gain their canoes & so to pass the River, but it 
was too late our people kept up a constant fire upon them killed 64 & 
took 25 prisoners among whom were their Commander & a white 
man*, who had assisted the Rebells all along & was a deserter. In 
this action there was but one of our people wounded & that was a 
brave young Dutch officer t whose name is not mentioned. The 

* Jean Renaud, a deserter from the Corentin. See Hartsinck, Beschrijving 
vail Guiana, torn. i. p. 481. 

t Hartsinck {op. cit.), though he gives a very full account of the whole 
rebellion and narrates this very action, makes no mention of a young Dutch 
officer with Captain Smith ; Netscher's account of the affair is based on 
Hartsinck. 



DESPATCHES 443 

themselves on the " Savonnette " plantation. Captain 
Smith^ has informed me that he will join the latter with 
thirty men of the English he has under him. 

The Commander of Demerara left already on the 
eleventh of this month for the upper part of that river in 
order to guide the troops and to see after the transport of 
the provisions, &c. 

At the present moment I have my house full of Caribs^, 
who, having recently carried out a very successful expedition 
against the rebels, fetched another large party of their 
nation, and have now come to me for guns and ammuni- 
tion. They are about to depart at once for Berbice in 
order to assist the whites, in which they can be of the 
utmost use, since they can look out for fugitives in the 
woods and so cut off all escape. I hope to be able to have 
the honour to give YY. HH. a full report in my next. 



remainder of the Rebells flew into the woods & must have been 
destroy'd; soon after the defeat Capt° Smith employed his prisoners 
^^ with his own men to cast up a breastwork, which he soon rendered 
secure against 500 at least. Soon after this a sloop well armed as 
was concerted came up the River & joined Capt° Smith, so that the 
whole united Force of the Rebells cannot now dislodge them. The 
Governor of Les Berbices was to go up that River on 19th Dec'" & if 
possible to be before Peerboom Plantation on 25ih Idem where there 
is a pretty strong brick house on a rising ground to which the Rebells 
have brought most of their Ammunition, provision, &c., with an inten- 
tion as it's said to defend themselves to the last extremity. The 
Governour will have with him 300 men besides the crews of the men 
of war & merchant men & the St Eustatia sloops, so that in all 
probability these wretches will soon be extirpated. The negroes that 
were taken at Savonette declared that the white man with them had 
frequently urged them to march across to Demerary & to attack that 
settlement, which they would have done had they not had intelligence 
of the English forces being in that river & of the arrival afterwards of 
y*^ troops sent by the Directors.... 

^ Jacob Smith, in command of a company of men raised in 
Barbados. 
2 Cf. p. 445- 



444 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 472/1 

February 29, 1764. 
(Extracts) 

It was a great pleasure to me that YY. HH. were good 
enough to approve of the conduct of my son-in-law and 
myself in the critical circumstances in which we were and 
I have the honour to thank YY. HH. very much for the 
present YY. HH. have been pleased to send me. The honour 
of obtaining Your Honours' approval and of doing my duty 
as an honest man is my highest aim, and that to which all 
my efforts, so far as the humble abilities bestowed upon me 
by the Most High allow, are directed. I hope to dwell 
further upon the state of affairs after I have answered Your 
Honours' esteemed letter. 

In reply to Your Honours' enquiry respecting the 
English frigate I have the honour to say that upon the 
first news of the general rising in Berbice being brought by 
the fugitive colonists the Commander sent tidings of that 
grievous occurrence by my order to Mr Pinfold \ Governor 
of Barbados, and to Mr Clarke, through a gentleman (Mr 
J, Wiltshire", now owning the plantation " De Diamant" 
in Demerara), who chanced to be in Demerara when these 
events took place in order to purchase the plantation of 
the late George Gascoigne and who under the circumstances 
immediately left. This was followed by the arrival of the 
aforesaid frigate and the further succour sent by Mr Clarke, 
which, after God, was the salvation of Demerara^ 

^ Cf. p. 420. ^ This must have been R, Wiltshire of p. 421. 

^ It is strange to find, after this most handsome (and not the 
first — see pp. 421-423 and 433) acknowledgment of Clarke's services 
by Storm, that Count Bentinck writes as follows to Gedney Clarke, Jr. 
(then in London) on May ^5, 1764 {Brit. Mus. Eg. MSS. 1720) : — 
"One thing which is surprising is that none of the Letters, from 
our colonys, mention a word of all your father has done, nor the 
obligations they are under towards him. This Silence must proceed 



DESPATCHES 445 

The Captain of the aforesaid frigate on his arrival told 
the Commander that if he asked the Governor of Barbados 
or Admiral Rodney for assistance in the name of Their 
High Mightinesses he had no doubt it would immediately 
be granted. If I remember rightly, copies of those letters 
are in the Commander's Diary which he had the honour to 
send YY. HH, from time to time. Direct assistance I never 
asked for\ although I was on the point of doing so once, 
as I had the honour of informing YY. HH. 

The treatment of slaves in this Colony is certainly more 
gentle and mild than in any other. The Court has regulated 
this as far as possible and I, for my part, have done as 
much as lies in my power to see they are not ill-treated 
and that they get what, according to law or ancient custom, 
is their due. But to my sorrow I find that all this is of 
little avail with that sort of folk and that this occasion has 
shown that those who were thought to be the most faithful 
and upon whom we should have most relied in case of 
need are not a jot better than the rest and, in spite of all 
benefits, thankless traitors. But a good conscience is the 
best jewel and it is a great satisfaction to have nothing 
with which to reproach oneself 

The Indians whom I had encouraged, and who had 
already undertaken two successful expeditions to Berbice-, 
being encouraged by this, came to my house on the 19th 
December, to the number of fully 100, inquiring into the 
state of the Colony^. I informed them, through the 

from ignorance (which is impossible) or from some other principle, 
which I had much rather not suspect, much less believe." — One 
wonders indeed where the siippressio vc?-i took place — in Middelburg.'' 

^ This was strictly correct (cf. pp. 421-423). 

2 Cf. p. 443- 

^ The Governor of Berbice writes as follows on Feb. 2j :— 

"I am delighted with the zeal and care which Your Excellency 
continually manifests in urging the Indians to march towards our 



44^ STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

medium of Mr van der Heyde, who understands their 
language thoroughly, both of the Governor's journey up 
the river and of the overland march of the detachment, at 
which they were very pleased, and, having been given a 
quantity of guns, powder, shot, and flints, they departed 
with a promise to set out for Berbice, and to keep a look- 
out for the fugitives in the forests and other places there. 

The new Governor of Orinoco has sent a trustworthy 
man here, bringing an assurance from his part that it is 
his intention to allow trade to be carried on with this river 
(but with absolutely no other). I had written to His 
Honour by an earlier messenger, but that letter had not 
yet reached the Governor when this man departed. I am 
writing to him again this week about six runaway slaves 
belonging to Mr Malgraef, who had fled in that direction, 
and also to warn him concerning- the rebels of Berbice. 



P.R.O. 472/32 

April 9, 1764. 
(Extracts) 

I have the honour to send herewith the letters last 
received from Berbice, from which YY. HH. will see that 
affairs, God be praised, are beginning once more to take a 
tolerably satisfactory turn there, to which end our Caribs, 
both from these rivers and even from Barima, have loyally 



frontiers. This is really the means by which the country may be 
kept in order. If they all put forth their best efiforts I doubt not 
that matters will end well, and when Demerary is protected by a 
war-ship I trust that Your Excellency will find no difficulty in sending 
the brave Caribs of Barima out upon our rebels." 



DESPATCHES 447 

done their best and are yet doing it, constantly roving 
about between the two Colonies, and having, through the 
Lord's blessing, been so successful in all their expeditions 
as to have lost none of their own people ; this makes them 
bold and enterprising beyond habit and expectation, yea, 
even reckless, and these occurrences cause a great embitter- 
ment between the blacks and them, which, if well and 
reasonably stimulated, cannot fail to be of much use and 
service in the future to the Colonies. 

I have just been disturbed by a body of Caribs collected 
by Your Honours* creole Veth (who, had I employed him 
in the beginning, would have been of immense service 
beyond all expectations). About six weeks ago I sent 
him up the river, and now he comes back with such a band 
that I must declare that I have never seen so many Indians 
together before. My house is so full that no one can get 
through, and this, too, is the smallest portion, the other lot 
having gone overland to Demerary to wait for these, who 
have asked me for only twelve rifles, powder, and shot 
for the Chiefs, which I have given them ; they are leaving 
for Berbice to-day with letters from me, in order that they 
may be employed there as may be found necessary. 

This body of Indians is wholly from the River 
Mazaruni. I had never supposed or been able to suppose 
that such a number of Caribs lived in that river alone. It 
is quite true that at the beginning of the last war but one 
I once had their number taken grosso modo, and it then 
amounted to iioo men capable of bearing arms; but this 
was the whole jurisdiction of the Company, from Abary to 
Barima. But now I find that I did not have the fourth 
part, or else they must have increased extraordinarily. 



448 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

// will be of interest to reproduce here, in its chro? 10 logical 
place, a letter^ addressed by Storm to Gedney Clarke, Jr., 
then on a visit to Europe, one of the very few private 
communications that we have from the pen of the 
Director- Genei'al. 

Rio Demerary, 23 Avril 1764^ 
Monsieur, 

Ce matin 23 Avril j'ai recu votre tres agreable Lettre 

du 13 Fevrier, qui m'a fait infiniment du plaisir. Premiere- 

ment parce qu'il m'est toujours agreable d'avoir I'honneur 

de recevoir de vos nouvelles ; en second lieu parceque c'est 

la premiere nouvelle que nous recevons de I'arrivee du 

Capitaine Stofifel Different, que je souhaitois beaucoup 

d'apprendre ; parceque par cette occasion j'ai ecrit une 

Lettre extremement longue et circonstantiee a Messieurs 

les Directeurs sur I'etat de notre colonie. 

Quoique accable d'affaires ne faisant que d'arriver 

depuis 3 ou 4 jours a Demerary, ou nous avons presente- 

ment un vaisseau de guerre de I'Etat, nomrn^ le Zephir, 

Capitaine van Oyen, et que le sac de lettres du Vaisseau 

Negrier de Mons^ de Bruyn se ferme apres demain ; je n'ai 

cependant pu laisser echapper cette occasion sans vous 

marquer la reception de votre lettre et vous faire mille 

remerciments pour les livres que vous avez eu la bonte de 

m'envoyer. Je suis curieux de voir ce que Mr de Bellin 

dit de nos quartiers, dont je n'ai pas grande opinion ; car 

ne faisant que I'ouvrir en le recevant, je vis d'abord 

quelques fautes assez grandes sur le sujet de notre cote. 

1 This document, together with others from which extracts are 
given on pp. 421-423, 426,427, 433, 444 and 445, forms a series relating 
to the Berbice revolt in a collection known as the Bentitick Papers 
{British Museum, Egerton MSS.). A reprint (somewhat lacking in 
precision) of a portion of the series was published in vol. ii. (New 
Series) of Tiinehri, 18S8, through the instrumentality of Mr N. Darnell 
Davis. 

2 This is a faithful reproduction of the copy, which is not in Storm's 
handwriting. 



DESPATCHES 449 

J'ai le plaisir de voiis marquer que la Rebellion des 
Berbices est finie. Dieu merci on commence a se remettre 
chacun sur son plantage. On a deja fait une terrible 
execution. 32 Rebelles pendus, 18 roues vifs apres avoir 
ate tenailles, avec des Tenailles rougies au feu, et 8 bruits 
vifs. Cela me semble un peu trop cruel. II y a encore 
une cinquantaine des plus coupables dans les fers. Nos 
Caraibes ont ete dun Service considerable dans cette 
affaire, et ne sauroit etre assez loues de leur fidelity et 
Bravoure dans cette occasion. J'y ai encore actuellement 
un corps de 95 hommes de cette nation, qui sont occupes a 
fureter les Bois et les Savannes pour prendre et assomer le 
reste des fuyarts. 

Je n'ai jamais cru que Berbices eut une si grande 
quantite d'esclaves. lis ont passe le nombre de sept mille ; 
et notre Essequebo et Demerary ensemble n'en peuvent 
tout au plus avoir cinq mille. N'est ce pas une honte pour 
une Colonic si etendue et si fertile? Quoiqu'on nous fasse 
accroire, il n'y a guerre d'apparance que cela change avant 
la Majorite du Prince d'Orange^ Cependant on me marque 
que cette annee meme la Navigation va etre rendue libre^. 
Nous verons ce qui en sera. Cela a dure si longtems et on 
a tant promis que je commence a douter de tout. 

Les Negres de ce Vaisseau^ ont ete vendus a un prix 
exorbitant; £400 et f. 450 etait I'ordinaire et plusieurs 
meme ont ete et passe meme les f. 600 par tete. Un peu 
auparavant un vaisseau de la Compagnie de commerce de 
Middelbourg fut oblige de s'en aller avec ses esclaves sans 
en vendre aucun ; parceque Mons"" Spoors ne vouloit pas 
les prendre a son risque, et que le capitaine ne vouloit 
point vendre autrement. 

Le croiriez vous, Monsieur? et cependant il n'y a rien 



1 See p. 548, Note 3. ^ See pp. 143-145. 

^ Meaning, those that came by the vessel taking this letter. 
V. S. II. 29 



450 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

de plus vrai ; ce Vaisseau de Mr de Bruyn auroit ete oblige 
et etoit pret pour la meme raison de sen aller avec ses 
esclaves a Curacao, si je ne m'y etois oppose de tout mon 
pouvoir en faisant d'abord assembler le conseil, et leur 
remontrant que si ce vaisseau partoit sans vendre nous 
n'aurions aparament de dix annees un autre et que par 
consequent la colonic seroit ruinee. Je fis tant par mes 
discours et persuasions qu'on resolut que la colonic en 
general prendroit la moitie a ses risques, et I'autre moitie a 
celle de Mons*" Spoors ; et ainsi la vente s'est faite. 

Voila ce que s'est que Messrs les directeurs ont permi a 
Mons"" Spoors comme Vendue Maitre, de prendre les 
Vendues a ses risques ou non, comme il lui plairoit ; et 
voila la veritable raison pourquoi nous avons ete tant 
d'annees sans esclaves ; car les marchands ne veulent pas 
risquer leur capital si legerement, et ils ont raison. 

II n'y a pas un seul vendu maitre dans toute notre 
Republique et son ressort, qui aye ce Privilege, et je ne 
comprends pas pour quelle raison on I'a accorde. Puis- 
qu'un vendu maitre court point ou fort peu de risque ; 
puisqu'il a selon nos loix le privilege de preference et 
d'execution directe sur ceux qui manquent au payement au 
terns fixe. 

Mais je vous entretiens trop longtems sur ces Bagatelles. 
J'ay ete oblige d'ouvrir enfin mon coeur et d'ecrire a 
Messieurs les Directeurs naturellement et sans compli- 
ments ; et comme j'avois insiste sur ma demission, j'ai 
envoye par Stoffel Different mon rapport sur I'Etat des 
affaires ou j'ai parle assez fortement ; et voila pourquoi j'ai 
appris son arrive avec plaisir. 

Et je suis d'autant plus content d'en avoir agi de cette 
maniere qu'on mecrit de la Haye que LL. HH. PP.^ avoient 



1 Leurs Hautes Puissances = Their High Mightinesses the States- 
General. 



DESPATCHES 45 1 

demandes toutes mes Lettres ecrites aux Directeurs depuis 
le commencement de rebellion des Berbices ; dont j'ai deja 
vu I'effet ; puisqu'il a plu a L. H. P. dans un Art. de 
I'instruction du commandant en chef des Troupes de I'Etat 
a Berbices d'ordonner d'agir en tout de concert avec moi. 

Ainsi je me flatte que ces Lettres auront un tres bon 
effet. 

L'expedition du Brave Smith^ a reussi au dessus de 
I'attente, non seulement par la destruction d'une bonne 
partie de Rebelles, mais d'autant plus que sans le savoir, 
elle a selon toutes les apparances sauve Demerary. Car 
son detachement a justement tombe sur le corps dune 
Troupe de Rebelles qui etoient assembles dans cet endroit 
pour marcher vers et attaquer Demerary ayant deux 
grandes canailles de Blancs (deserteurs I'un de Berbices 
I'autre de Suriname) a leur tete. Aussi au retour de cette 
Expedition notre colonie lui a fait un present de mille 
florins. 

J'ai oublie de vous marquer qu'on a contracte avec le 
Capitaine Bouwers pour une nouvelle armaison d'Esclaves, 
pour le plutot qu'il lui sera possible, ainsi je crois que nous 
n'en manquerons plus tant. Pressez je vous prie Mons^ de 
Bruyn^ pour hater son depart vers la cote de Guinee. 

J'ecrirai la semaine prochaine a Persik pour des Mules 
pour votre plantage. Je suis surpris qu'on n'en a pu avoir ; 
il n'y a qu'environ 3 semaines qu'il en a recu 26, et qu'il en 
est encore arrive par d'autres. Je crains bien qu'il ne 
soyent deja vendus. S'ils ne le sont pas vous pouvez etre 
assure que vous en aurez ; et s'ils le sont, j'aurai soin que 
vous aurez des premiers qui viendront. 

J'ordonnerai au maitres des postes de faire faire d'abord 
le menage Indiens que vous me faites I'honneur de me 



^ See Note on pp. 442 and 443. ^ See p. 458. 

29 — 2 



452 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE S 

demander, et des qu'il sera pret je I'enverai a Monsieur de 
Bruyn, pour vous le faire parvenir, 

J'espere par une autre occasion d'avoir I'honneur de 
vous ecrire plus amplement, etant a present accable 
d'affaires. Le Commandeur^ est fort malade. 
J'ai I'honneur d'etre 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



p.R.o. 472/44 

Demerara, May 12, 1764. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

It has pleased Almighty God, in accordance with 
His eternal and immutable decree, to call my dear son-in- 
law, Laurens Lodewijk van Berch Eyck^ in life Commander 
of this river, from this temporal to His Eternal Kingdom on 
the third of this month at the age of full thirty-three years, 
to the great grief of his sorrowing widow and three young 
children, and mine, whose support and right hand he 
always was^ His illness was naught else than exhaustion 

1 L. L. van Bercheyck, Commander of Demerara. Cf. next 
despatch. 

2 See p. 335. 

3 Eight months later Bercheyck's widow had to remind the 
Directors of her existence by the following letter : — 

P.R.o. 472/94 

January 28, 1765. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

I trust YY. HH. will kindly excuse the liberty I take in 
writing, for I deem it a widow's privilege to pour her heart out to the 
fathers of her dead husband and consequently hers, as I make bold to 
call Your Honours. 

Truly, YY. HH., it pains me to my soul to see that my dear husband 
appears to be quite forgotten, after having served YY. HH. so faithfully 
and zealously, even to the prejudice of my three young children and 
myself, as I can prove to yy. hh., and that only in hopes of being 



I 



DESPATCHES 453 

and complete loss of strength, and the eighteen days that 
it lasted was one gradual decline until his life went out 
like a candle. I can truly say that he is a great loss to 
this river, for we shall not easily get another who will be so 
heart and soul in the work and so indefatigable night and 
day in its performance, even greatly to his own prejudice, 
as I perceive now that I am upon his plantation. May I 
entreat YV. HH. to take into consideration, when choosing 
a successor to the deceased, the circumstances of this river, 
for its growth, success or total ruin will greatly depend 
upon Your Honours' choice. 



rewarded after those troublous times. Humanly speaking, the com- 
mandership was alone the cause of his. death. To be commander, 
commandant, secretary, assistant and warehouse-master, in a river 
much more populous than Essequibo — was it, YY. HH., possible for a 
human being to undertake all this alone without sinking under the 
burden, and that for twenty guilders per month? I can testify upon 
my honour that since the critical events in Berbice and as long as 
I was with my husband he did not pass an hour unoccupied, much less 
enjoy a night's rest. Nay, did I not myself (especially when vessels 
were about to sail) have to act as clerk for him in copying (letters, 
manifests, &c.) in order to help him get finished, and do as much as 
was in my power ? And I have moreover suffered loss on the planta- 
tion, which has gone back very much through the slaves being 
constantly sent hither and thither, for it frequently happened that 
not more than one negro was left upon it. When the new manager 
arrived upon the plantation he assured me that I had suffered more 
than four thousand guilders' loss ; the coffee shrubs were so neglected 
that he had to cut down quite half of them. In addition to this my 
husband was to have measured Wacquenam and Varken Islands if he 
had not been so constantly detained in Demerara. 

Further I have the honour to commend my children and myself to 
Your Honours' protection and to be 

Your Honours' humble and obedient servant, 

Maria Catharina Storm van 's Gravesande, 

Widow van Berch Eyck. 



One year after writing the above the widow thanks the Directors 
for six hundred guilders (fifty pounds); the document is appended 



454 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

For I, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, cannot flatter 
myself that I shall be able to do much more for it ; my 
years, my poor health, sorrow, vexations and constant 
opposition in addition to the burden which is now about to 
fall entirely upon me, without the least help, make me 
weary of my office, of the country, yea, even of life itself. 

I beg that it may not be taken amiss if I write no 
further. It is only with great trouble that I have got so 
far, wherefore I am obliged to conclude this with assurances 
that I shall always be with deep respect and esteem, 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

Your Honours' most humble and obedient servant, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



in its entirety as a proof of its existence, but the italicized words are 
italicized in the translation only. More pointed comment is needless. 

P.R.O. 472/195 

Rio Essequibo, January 3, 1766. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

In accordance with Your Honours' gracious permission 
I have taken the liberty of drawing upon YY. HH. for the six hundred 
guilders (which YY. HH. were kind enough to present me for the 
faithful services of 7ny late deaily beloved husband) to the order of my 
father-in-law, Major van Berch Eyck, who will for that amount have 
some pieces of silver made as a lasting memorial of Your Honours' 
kindness and approval of my husband's conduct in Your Honours' 
service. 

Assuring YY. HH. once more of my heartfelt gratitude and com- 
mending myself to Your Honours' protection I have the honour to 
be with deep respect, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

Your Honours' humble and obedient servant, 

Maria Catharina Storm van 's Gravesande, 

Widow van Berch Eyck. 



DESPATCHES 455 

P.R.O. 472/46 

Demerara, May 24, 1764. 
(Extracts) 

That the interests of the colonies must be subordinate 
to those of the mother country is so self evident a principle 
that I do not think it is possible for anyone to doubt it^ 
If both can be brought into agreement everything must go 
on prosperously and that is the case in this matter. 

The larger the quantity of produce is, the better it is for 
the shipping interests and for those of the planter too. The 
produce must unconditionally be sent to the mother coun- 
try and to no foreign places ; this should be a hard and fast 
rule, as immutable as the laws of the Medes and Persians. 
But as there is no rule, however general, without an excep- 
tion, this applies here, too, to the syrup and kiltum. 

It were desirable that a market for these articles could 
be found in the mother country, and that we could avoid 
sending them to North America, but the subject has 
already been so much discussed and it has been so clearly 
shown to be impracticable as matters still stand, that it is 
not yet to be thought of. 

It gives me great satisfaction that YY. HH. have 
graciously granted me full permission to speak my mind 
openly concerning the interests of the Honble. Co. and the 
Colony. I am fully acquainted with the respect I owe 
YY. HH. ; it is not for me to act in any sense contrary 
thereto and I hope I shall always bear it in mind. But, 
Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, if sometimes my zeal 
for Your Honours' service has caused some hard expres- 
sions to fall from my pen I humbly ask for pardon, 
assuring YY. HH. that such was never done with disre- 
spectful feelings or intentions but out of true zeal and 

^ The accepted " Colonial Policy." Storm develops this theme a 
little later. Cf. p. 480. 



456 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

without premeditation in the stress of business, it having 
ever been my wont, as long as I have the honour of serving 
YY. HH., to '^xoz&^A goed roiid goed zeeuivs'^ and without cir- 
cumlocution, and up to the present I have had the good 
fortune never to have incurred the resentment of my lords 
and masters thereby. 

It was also very gratifying to me that YV. HH. were 
pleased with my report respecting the Posts ; these are or 
can be of very great use and advantage to the Honble. Co. 
as they were of old when the annatto dye was of some im- 
portance. If the Almighty grants me health I hope to 
have the honour of writing circumstantially to YY. HH. con- 
cerning that matter, the time being now much too short, 
the vessel about to sail, and my hands so full of Demerara 
affairs, especially since the illness and death of my dear 
son-in-law, that I have not a moment's rest and I even fear, 
however much I hurry, that I shall not be able to finish my 
reply to Your Honours' esteemed letters. 

Lieutenant-Captain Bakker has just arrived with a letter 
from Mr Spoors. It is lamentable, YY. HH., to have so much 
put upon one ; I ought indeed to have two bodies and yet 
it is impossible for me to be here and in Essequibo at the 
same time. I cannot understand why the Councillors there 
are unwilling to transact business of any importance under 
Mr Spoors' presidency except to annoy me. I have the 
honour to send YY, HH. my indictment of the Adjutant 
Adami upon a complaint lodged by Mr van Oyen concerning 
fresh outrages committed by him ; the Court refuses to pass 
judgment and demands that I must come and preside in 
person. Is this not enough to make one lose all patience? 
Now I must, whether I will or not, go to Essequibo and 
then return here, for my presence here is urgently required 

^ See p. 429. 



DESPATCHES 457 

and my weak body can really no longer endure such 
fatigue. What am I to do ? I must exercise patience, 
nolens volens. 



P.R.O. 472/55 

June 21, 1764. 
(Extract) 

Upon my return home [from Demerara] I found, to my 
great sorrow, that Mr Spoors has almost lost his sight and 
that he can see very little. As his eyes themselves show no 
traces of anything being wrong I am afraid that it will be 
difficult and perhaps impossible to cure him. This grievous 
occurrence, in addition to the loss of my son-in-law and the 
inexperience of the Assistant Milborn (although a very 
good, industrious and zealous youth) brings such a whirl 
of matters upon me that I see no getting through them 
and scarcely know where to begin or where to end. 
Everything falls upon my shoulders now, but I hope 
with the Lord's blessing to do as much as possible, if 
not in one week, then in two or three. The Assistant 
Loof (now Commander ad interim) has also so much to do 
in Demerara that he could use two or three bodies, and he 
cannot possibly be spared there. 



P.R.O. 472/61 

August, 1764. 
(Extracts) 

My two last to YY. HH. were by " D'Essequebo Planter," 
Captain Deneke. Whilst writing the last of them I had a 
visit from Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas^ who having been 
here and in Demerara fully three weeks, returned to Berbice 
on the 13th. He confirmed the reports that everything 

^ See p. 391. 



458 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

was now quiet at the latter place and that the rebellion was 
quite crushed ; but according to the unanimous reports of 
the Indians a few rebels are still holding out very far up the 
Berbice river, where the Caribs have promised to go in 
search of them, and while I am writing my house is actually 
full of that nation. It looks now-a-days as if it rained 
Indians and although they give me much trouble they have 
to be treated with consideration and kindness. 

Some time ago there was sent me from Barbados a small 
pamphlet, being a short treatise concerning plantership^, 
an excellent little work of its kind and fully worthy the 
attention of all planters. Thinking that it might be of 
great service to our colonies I translated it into our mother 
tongue during odd moments of leisure. 

But there being a great difference alone in planting the 
cane and working the land in the English Antilles and here 
I appended a few necessary remarks and also wrote briefly 
concerning other products, adding in elucidation a plan of 
a newly laid out plantation. 

I am sending it by this ship with a request to my corre- 
spondent^ to have it printed if the cost be not too high. I 
have also taken the liberty of dedicating it to YY. HH. as my 
lords and masters and the fathers of this Colony ; this I hope 
YY. HH. will not take amiss. It was my intention to send 
with it a much more extensive work* concerning this Colony, 
but some necessary facts relating to the population, dates, 
limits, etc., being wanting, and my endless duties pressing 
upon me, especially now that I am quite alone and without 
the least assistance, I am compelled to keep this back for 



' See p. 460. 

^ Every planter had his correspondent or business agent in the 
home country. Storm's was one Pieter de Bruijn, in Middelburg 
(cf. pp. 413, 481 and 482). 

^ See p. 460. 



DESPATCHES 459 

the present. The copies of my letters sent to YY. HH. by 
Capt. Deneken I had to have written by my eldest daughter, 
the widow of the Commander of Demerara, for there was 
no getting through my work, and the more so now by reason 
of the lamentable misfortune of Mr Spoors, whose eyes, as 
I write, are still in the same sad state. 

And truly, Your Honours, it is difficult to understand 
with what difficulties I am on all sides beset. Old and 
infirm myself, Mr Spoors half blind, Loof in Demerara 
(where I do not think he will stay very long, his wife 
disliking that river so greatly that she will listen to no 
reason), Milborn (a good young man he seems up to now 
but) inexperienced and slow, the Commander of Demerara, 
my greatest help, gone, I leave it to YY. HH. to imagine 
how I am placed. 

If I can write twenty lines of this despatch without 
being obliged to leave it I may consider myself lucky. 

P.S. — I have this week given orders to remove the Post 
Arinda four days' journey higher, at the mouth of the River 
Ripenuwini [Rupununi], so that the Post will now be about 
lOO hours from Fort Zeelandia. I have also given orders 
for going up the Essequibo, which has not yet been done, 
in order to visit the numerous and powerful tribe called 
Tarouma^ and, if possible, to discover the source of the 
Essequibo. 



^ This exploration of the Essequibo was never undertaken under 
Storm's regime, for Jansse's expedition of ijdg (see pp. 616-620) was 
more to the west, and we actually get no further news of the Taroumas 
until Robert Schomburgk {J.R.G.S. vol. x. pp. 168, 169, 172 ; vol. xv. 
p. 42) visits their settlements in i8j2, he being, as both he and his 
brother Richard assure us {Rdseti in Britisch Guiana, ii. p. 388), the 
first European to do so. 

im Thurn {Among the Indians of Guiana, p. 163) suggests that the 
tribe reached its present position from the south, by way of the Rio 
Negro. 



460 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

In the preceding despatcJi Storm mentions " a short treatise 
concerning plaiitership " sent over by the same ship and 
" a much 7nore exteiisive work concerning this Colony " 
whicJi he holds back owing to '^endless duties pressing" 
upo}i him'^. Yet, in spite of all this, he was able already 
in A ugust to fulfil the hope expressed in his letter of May 
^-/, of ''writing circumstantially" concerning the Posts, 
for ivith the despatch sent that month he encloses the 
important treatise that follows. 

P.R.O. 472/63 

A Brief Treatise concerning the Honourable 
Company's Trading-placesI 

The Honourable West India Company has within the 
jurisdiction of this Colony four different Posts or trading- 
places — viz., one in the Creeks of Maheyka and Macaurni 
(generally called Maykouny^), one above Essequibo, one in 
Cuyuni, and one in the Creeks Wacquepo and Moruka. 

I. That in Maheyka and Maykouny lies about eight 
hours up the Creek, which is situated between Berbice and 
Demerary, about seven hours eastward above Demerary. 

This district is mostly inhabited by the Garouna tribe, 
called by us Warouws*, who nearly all have their houses 
standing on piles in the morasses. They support them- 
selves entirely by hiring themselves out for work to the 
whites, being good workmen (but very dishonest), or by 

^ In spite of a diligent search instituted at Middelburg, The Hague 
and Amsterdam, these two treatises have not been discovered. The 
second may possibly have reached Hartsinck, the historian of Dutch 
Guiana, through Storm's friend. Professor AUamand, for in the Preface 
to the Besc/irijvitig van Guiana {1770) Hartsinck says, " Nor can 
I refram from expressing my gratitude to a learned friend... for 
detailed information concerning the discoveries made in the Colony 
of Essequibo and the adjoining rivers by order of Governor Storm 
van 's Gravesande." 

^ See Note on p. 192. ^ Mahaicony. 

* See p. 343. 



DESPATCHES 46 1 

making boats. This, and the salting of fish in the dry 
season, together with keeping possession between the two 
Colonies, is the entire use of this Post, where there are only 
two men to keep an eye upon the runaway slaves either 
from this or other Colonies, 

At the time that the trade in annatto dye was still of 
some importance, this Post furnished a considerable quantity, 
because the men supported themselves by making boats 
and the women occupied themselves with the cultivation 
and preparation of the dye, for which they could get what 
was necessary ; but, when this trade fell away, they left it 
off entirely, and neglected or pulled up most of the shrubs. 
The boats are, therefore, most important and necessary for 
the Colony, which cannot dispense with them. 

If there were no Post here, the Indians would soon be 
driven away by the tyranny and improper treatment of the 
settlers. 

There is also a great deal of timber, called "jitima" (a 
kind of mahogany), much of which is made into planks for 
use, and which can be transported in rafts. 

2. The Post above Essequibo, called Arinda, of entirely 
different importance, lies about seventy hours (at a guess, 
because it has never been exactly measured) above Fort 
Zeelandia, up the River Essequibo, and, as it is thought, at 
about four degrees and a few minutes' latitude north. 

To get to that Post, several falls, some of them very 
large, have to be passed ; they are not really very dangerous 
for those who have in their boats Indians who know the 
way, and accidents are seldom or never heard of, the few 
which happen being due to men's own faults, drunkenness 
or the like. 

The trade carried on there has hitherto consisted in red 
slaves and in Acuway and Ataray^ dyes, which, although 



^ Although Storm makes only this single reference to the Atorai 
tribe there is little doubt that already in his time it was in close touch 



462 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

very pretty to look at, have, up to the present, not been 
of any use. 

Although the trade in red slaves might be made very 
profitable, it contributes but little to the importance of this 
Post, because, in addition to the latter being of great service 
in keeping up the communication and friendship with the 
inland tribes, by means of which great discoveries might be 
made, it should also be stated that not very far above the 
Post two other rivers (called Sibarouna and Rupununi, the 
first of which is not yet very well known) fall into the River 
Essequibo. 

But the second having a very extensive course, there is 
a place a few days' journey above the Post where, by 
having the boat dragged for about three hours across a low 
and marshy land, we come into the Creek Meejou\ also 
called Maho, which flows into the Rio Branco, and the 
latter into the Rio Negro, which, falling into the Amazon, 
can make communication with that great river easyl 

Up in Rupununi there are found whole woods of cocoa, 
some of which has been brought down on various occasions, 



with the Colony, for Humboldt {^Op. cit. ii. p. 684) reports that in ///j 
it was found dwelling between the Rupununi, the Mahu and the 
Pacaraima chain, whilst we have it in the Dutch records that in 
lyyS an Atorai chief named Taumaii received a certificate of friend- 
ship at Essequibo from Storm's successor, G. H. Trotz {Braz. Art. 
Brit. Ann. i. p. 135). 

Richard Schomburgk states that his brother found Atorais in large 
numbers during his journey to the source of the Essequibo in iSjy 
{Op. cit. ii. p. 388) but six years later their villages had disappeared 
(Robert Schomburgk's Reports — J.R.G.S. xv. pp. 26 and '})'^ ; McTurk, 
however, found some at the head of the Rupununi in iSyo {Biaz. Arb. 
Brit. Ann. ii. pt. 3, p. 3), Barrington Brown reports some self-styled 
chiefs living on that river in iSyy {Canoe and Catnp Life., pp. 313, 314) 
and McTurk again finds some south of it in igoi {B7'az. Arb. Brit. 
Ann. ii. pt. 3, p. 2). 

' This, in Dutch, has the sound of Mayow. The river is visited 
by an emissary of Storm's in lydg (see p. 617). 

2 Cf. with a letter written to the Commandant of Guayana, y«;z^ ^, 
1758 {Ven. Arb. Brit. A pp. ii. p. 147). 



DESPATCHES 463 

and found to be as good as any other, and of which the 
monkeys and other animals now get the benefit. 

Also, whole woods of wild cinnamon trees, which are as 
yet turned to little account, being, by reason of their mixed 
smell of cinnamon and cloves called Canella groffiata ; but 
this is due to the fact that no bark is brought down, except 
of very large and old trees, it being not yet long since a 
trial was made of cultivating the trees in Brazil, and the 
second bark of young trees, three or four years old, taken 
and found as good as that of Ceylon, mention of which 
is made in the proceedings of scientific Societies, and is 
confirmed by those who occasionally come here from 
thence. 

In the same river, the great and famous, and, hitherto, 
so little known, crystal mine is of little importance in itself; 
but the unanimous testimony of writers concerning the 
precious minerals and all the corroborative reports of the 
Spaniards from far up the Orinoco prove that this crystal 
mine is the mother of the emerald, which, being found 
there, and there only, can also be turned to profitable 
account. 

The Essequibo itself, though remaining equally wide 
and large, is unknown a few days above the Post (which 
is a remarkable fact), no one having gone in this direction, 
which, I believe, to be due to the fact that the itinerant 
traders (ignorant folk, and mostly like the Indians them- 
selves) resemble sheep and follow each other, without 
troubling themselves about discoveries or advantages which 
are still uncertain. 

In accordance with the course of this river, which runs 
from south to east and south-south-east, it is thought, with 
some reason, that its source cannot be far from the Amazon, 
and that it perhaps even communicates with that river. 

On a great savannah next to the river is the likewise 
famous, and so little known, pyramid, the existence of 



464 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

which is certain, all the Indians, without exception, con- 
firming the same, though they are unable to give more 
than a rough description by reason of their being, through 
a deep-rooted superstition, afraid to approach it, saying it 
is the dwelling of the " Jaavaho " (the Devil is so called by 
them), and the itinerant traders, as superstitious as they, 
have as little courage to do so, whereby one can judge what 
kind of people they are. 

Up in the river, on the banks of the same, but a good 
way up, there dwells the numerous tribe of the Manoas, 
here called Magnouws, much feared by the other tribes, 
and which, in the time of the late Commander de Heere, 
was so injudiciously and childishly driven away, badly 
treated, and for ever estranged from us, that the efforts 
made to enter into communication with it have hitherto 
proved fruitless — a political dodge of the Carib nation of 
which it would be thought incapable. The Portuguese in 
Brazil are indebted to this tribe for the discovery of the 
gold and diamonds. I have heard and read a good deal of 
this, but have had it corroborated by Mr del Torres de 
Bandeyra, the second person in BraziP, when he came to 
lodge with me a few years ago on fleeing from Brazil on 
account of some dispute with the Bishop of Pernambuco, 
and who departed, via Barbados and London, for Lisbon, 
and thence proceeded, according to what he wrote me, back 
to Brazil in his former capacity, the Bishop being called 
home. 

It is now easy to understand of what importance this 
Post may become if it be entrusted to intelligent and 
diligent folks ; but that is the defect, such being unpro- 
curable here. It is as though there were a curse upon it ; 
people who here appear to be diligent, zealous, and in- 
dustrious are not a year there before they are like Indians. 

1 Cf. pp. 414 and 614. 



DESPATCHES 465 

I say appear, for those who are really so by nature, and 
have a reasonable judgment, are not spoiled so quickly, 
especially as there is so fine a chance there for making a 
fortune. It is known that gold dust was brought thence 
in former days, and de la Chau, in his journey through 
Demerary to Essequibo two years ago', found a few grains 
of it. Our itinerant trader, Jan Stok, has been so far up 
the river that he has seen the Missions of the Portuguese, 
but did not dare to approach them through a childish fear 
so common amongst the Indian traders. 

It is indisputable that many discoveries of great im- 
portance might be made in that direction if things were 
well and properly managed. The costs necessary for the 
same would not be so great as might be supposed at a first 
glance. A good deal could be done with looo rix-dollars 
if only we had capable folks. 

The unsuccessful journey of Nicolaas Horstman^, sent 
up that river in the year 1740, would have been of great 
advantage if he had not been a scoundrel, and had followed 
his instructions instead of running away with his merchan- 
dise to the Portuguese, in going whither he took the road 
of Rupununi, and of whom Mr de la Condamine speaks^ in 
his journey of the Amazon, which journey he also uses as 
a proof of the non-existence of the Lake of Parima, Strange 
as it may seem, it is known but little, or not at all, that 
the great river of Massaruni, lying between the Essequibo 
and the Cuyuni, runs due south-west into the interior of 
these lands ; that it is by no means so dangerous in falls as 
the two others, there being only one place where it runs 
under a very large rock about a few miles long, at a guess, 
navigated and found to be without danger by the colonist 



1 See pp, 80, 413, 593 and 594. 
^ For this episode, see pp. 61-63 ^.nd 167-174. 
^ See pp. 62, 167 and 539. 
v. s. II. 30 



466 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

C. Finet. The colonist E. Pijpersberg is the only man, to 
my knowledge, who has been any great distance up the 
river, in pursuit of thirteen of his runaway slaves, whom he 
got back, too, from a tribe which had never seen a white 
man, and which refused him admittance to its land, he 
having got his slaves back through the medium of a free 
Indian known to that tribe, and by means of payment in 
merchandise. The aforesaid Pijpersberg has assured me 
that on the left-hand side in going up the river he saw a 
very large pyramid', which he would have liked to examine, 
but dared not leave his captive slaves. 

3. The third Post was on the River of Cuyuni-, which 
river, like that of Massaruni, mostly stretches in a straight 
south-westerly direction, after having first run for some 
miles in a westerly one ; according to the unanimous 
testimony of the Indians, these rivers, Massaruni and 
Cuyuni, have their source in a large lake or inland sea, 
as the Indians call it, which lake is inclosed by high 
mountains, inhabited by vast numbers of Indians, who, 
through fear of the Spaniards, allow no strangers to come 
into their country, it being related that already two detach- 
ments of Spaniards sent into those parts to make discoveries 
have been beaten and massacred. Whether this lake is the 
lake of Parima^ or that of Cassipa is not yet known. 

Now, this Post was, as is known, attacked in the year [ *] 
in a treacherous manner, contrary to the law of nations, and 
contrary to all Treaties, by the Spaniards of Guayana, with 
a detachment of 100 men, the Postholder and his assistant 
being taken prisoners to Guayana, and shortly after to 
Cumana, the buildings at the Post being destroyed and 
burnt. The reasons that they had for such unlawful pro- 
ceedings must be best known to themselves, because they 

' For references to this and other "pyramids" see Index, p. 689. 
2 For references to the history of this Post see Index, p. 677. 
^ What Lake Parima really was may be seen on pp. 182, 183, 186. 
* There is a gap in the original. It was in 17^8 (see p. 356). 



i 



DESPATCHES 467 

can have not the very least shadow of a claim to possession, 
or it must have been the chimerical pretensions of the 
priests in these parts that the whole of America belongs 
to His Catholic Majesty, and that all other nations hold 
possession vn^xQXy precario, and by permission. 

So that they must have had entirely different reasons, 
and which must be of great consideration to authorize such 
an excess — which reasons can very well be guessed, but not 
being as yet certain about them, I will pass over them in 
silence. The same reasons which made the Post of Arinda 
above Essequibo of importance and utility also exists here. 
In addition to this, there is also the fact that [the bend of] 
this river is a tract of land along which the Spaniards 
spread themselves from year to year, and gradually come 
closer by means of their Missions, the small parties sent 
out by them coming close to the place where the Honour- 
able Company's indigo plantation stood, and being certain 
to try and establish themselves if they are not stopped in 
time. Guayana, or Orinoco, has now become a Government, 
and the new Governor has brought orders, and is actually 
at work, to abandon and to break down the town or village^ 
in Orinoco, and to bring it a few days' journey higher up 
the river, by doing which and on account of the ramifica- 
tions of the two rivers, he is brought much nearer the River 
Cuyuni. This immense work and the heavy expense are 
not undertaken without some important and certain aim. 

That the River Cuyuni is full of mines is pretty certain 
both from the unanimous testimony of the Indians, and 
from the fact that the waters of this river, which have been 
stagnant amongst the mountains, are found to be undrink- 
able, and even, to some extent, poisonous, at the end of the 
dry season and when the rains begin. They are then 
exceedingly unwholesome, and full of verdigris. 

^ S. Thom^ was in 1^64 (when Storm wrote) removed to its present 
site, called Angostura, and afterwards Ciudad Bolivar. 

30—2 



468 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

The copper-mine in the Blue Mountain is well known, 
but besides this it is seen that the Indians have silver 
collars, which they make themselves, and which, according 
to their words, they get from the mountains. Many stones 
are found there full of arsenical matter and every appearance 
of rich metal. In the year 1758 a rich silver-mine would 
have been discovered had it not been for the treasonable 
conduct of a Company's half-free Creole, who was con- 
sequently made a slave, and who is now actually at work 
at Fort Zeelandia. 

We must have no expectations of getting information 
concerning any mines from the Indians. The common 
people themselves know nothing of them, and it is only the 
Chiefs and the Elders, who carefully keep the same secret, 
and make the other Indians believe that the Jawaho or 
Devil lives in those places, by which they are frightened 
from approaching those places. 

This is caused by the harsh treatment of the Spaniards, 
the first discoverers, who, by making them work in the 
mines, have sent many thousands of these people to the 
other world. Our itinerant traders, as superstitious as the 
Indians themselves, are also very careful not to come 
near those places. 

This Post is also very necessary to stop the slaves 
running away to the Spaniards, this being the nearest way. 

4. There now remains only the Post situated on the 
sea-coast between Essequibo and Orinoco, in the Creeks 
Wacquepo and Moruka, not far below the River Pomeroon, 
which creeks have an inland communication by water^ with 
Pomeroon, as also with the River Waini, which has one with 
the River Barima, which are all navigable in the rainy season, 
and thus of very great use in furthering commerce both with 
the Indians and with the Spaniards, all who do not sail in 

^ Cf. Notes on pp. 322 and 663. 



DESPATCHES 469 

very large ships having to pass the Post on their journey 
to or from Orinoco. The trade of that Post formerly con- 
sisted mostly in boats and annatto dye, of which last it used 
to yield a very large quantity, though now it sends none at all. 

The boats which come from there are by far the best and 
most durable, being manufactured by the Warouws, who 
inhabit the islands in the mouth of the Orinoco. 

The most important use of this Post consists in — 

i. Keeping possession of that district. 

ii. Stopping and catching the slaves who try to run 
away from this Colony to Orinoco, and who mostly pass 
this way. 

iii. Providing the Indians who are required both by the 
Honourable Company's plantations as well as by private 
colonists to go salting, most of those who live under this 
Post being good sailors and used to navigation. 

iv. Providing the necessary boats. 

The holder of this Post could make a large fortune if he 
was a man to look after his own interests, because, in addi- 
tion to the trade with the Indians in hammocks, boats, 
salt-fish, slaves, and other Indian merchandise, which is not 
without good profit, all the Spaniards who come here with 
mules, cattle, tobacco, hides, tallow, dried meat, &c., pass 
the Post, and stop there for a few days to refresh themselves 
and rest their animals. If he kept a stock of the things 
that the Spaniards required, the latter would be very pleased 
to buy them there, and would not come further. This fact 
it is easy to grasp. 

Some years ago one de Scharde (who had been a ship- 
broker in Amsterdam), an honest and sensible man, had 
been in command there only about two years when he died\ 

' Jan de Scharde figures on the Muster-Roll for i'/48 as the post- 
holder at Wacquepo {Ven. Art. Brit. App. vii. p. 161): Aegidius 
de Scharde in the Registers (see p. 400) as the owner of " Hampton 
Court." 



470 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE S 

Having brought nothing when he came, he left behind him 
a widow, who first laid out a plantation with a good 
number of slaves in Demerara, and bequeathed it free of 
debt to her son. 

In order immediately to derive more real benefit, and to 
have reason to expect great advantages in the future from 
the different Posts, and especially from the three last 
mentioned there should {salvo meliori) : — 

Firstly, be appointed as commanders specially diligent 
and industrious folk who have good sound judgment, are 
of good behaviour, and are by no means drunkards. Such 
are not to be got here, and through the bad behaviour of 
the Postholders that office has fallen into such contempt 
that when the afore-mentioned de Scharde was Postholder 
and I gave him a seat at my table as being a respectable 
man and of good conduct, several Councillors said they 
would not come and dine with me again. However 
ridiculous such empty pride was, especially as the same 
gentlemen placed their foremen, salters, and workmen right 
next to me at table when I called at their houses, it yet 
shows to what extreme degree of contempt those Postholders 
have fallen. 

If I had been able to get more like de Scharde or had 
been able to keep him longer that would soon have been 
altered, but until now it has always gone amiss, just as this 
self-same month I have given the Postholder of Arinda a 
rifle to carry and made him a soldier at the Fort on account 
of his bad conduct. 

Secondly, they must not be permitted to carry on any 
private trade except in trifles, animals, birds, basket-work, 
salt-fish, and such things, in order to encourage them and 
bring them some profit. All the rest that is of any im- 
portance should be purchased for the Honourable Company 
and sold (or used, according to the requirements of the case) 
for account of the same. 



DESPATCHES 4/1 

But (and this is perhaps the most important) if they 
make any discoveries of importance a certain premium 
should be awarded them in order to encourage them, and 
the necessary expenses which they incur in going into the 
interior of the country, &c., should be allowed in their 
accounts. And they should be awarded a certain proportion, 
as, for instance, 4 or 5 per cent., on what they purchase for 
the Honourable Company, and credited with the same in 
their accounts or paid out of the proceeds of what they 
sell. 

For without reasonable advantages and the prospect of 
fortune, no one who is accustomed to a proper mode of life 
would care to become a hermit and go and live in places 
isolated from all companionship of whites, amidst woods 
and mountains, which in itself requires some resolution on 
the part of honest folks, for with regard to other sorts, such 
as our itinerant traders and their like, they care little where 
in the world they are and have really (though there is no 
rule without an exception) only the shape or figure of human 
beings — vix nomine digni. 

In addition to what has been briefly stated here con- 
cerning the Posts or trading places, there must also be 
considered the vast extent of the districts situated between 
those four Posts, without reckoning those which are beyond 
the same, and belonging to the jurisdiction of the Honour- 
able Company. 

Concerning which districts it should especially be taken 
into consideration that they surpass those already cultivated 
in fertility to such a degree as to be perfectly incredible 
to those who are unacquainted with the experiments and 
investigations made. 

Above the first fall in Essequibo a Jew named Moses 
Isaac de Vries\ who has now been dead some years, 

^ See pp. 197, 207 and 227 for further particulars concerning him. 



4/2 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

commenced a sugar plantation, and the cane which was 
grown there called forth the admiration and astonishment 
of all the inhabitants. 

The Rivers Massaruni, Cuyuni, Pomeroon, Wacquepo, 
Moruka, and Waini, &c., surpass this one so greatly in the 
matter of fertile lands that not the slightest comparison 
can be instituted. 

It must not be imagined that the land above the falls 
would be uninhabitable on account of the difficulty of 
transporting the produce down stream. In no wise. The 
aforementioned Jew demonstrated how easy it was, and 
results proved it. How many thousands of families would 
not in this way be located, make an easy living, and be 
saved from want (from which so many unfortunate ones at 
home suffer). 

What advantages our commonwealth would reap from 
this is too clear and convincing to need expatiating upon. 

The costs of such an enterprise would not be so ex- 
orbitantly high as one would imagine at the first glance. 
So little is required in this country for the necessaries of 
life that it must have been seen and experienced to be 
understood. Here the proverb — Natura paiicis coiitotta — - 
is true to its fullest extent. It was in the year 1750 that 
I had the honour, in a private audience of His Serene 
Highness of most laudable memoryS to give utterance to 
this paradox — that it was a misfortune for this country that 
one could get one's living too easily, of which real truth 
that great Prince, upon fuller explanation, was perfectly 
convinced. 

If we ever desired to enter upon so profitable a matter 
and follow the example of the English and French, the 
Posts of which I have spoken would be absolutely necessary 
and indispensable, and (be it said) if this matter is not 

^ William IV, Prince of Orange (cf. p. yj). 



DESPATCHES 473 

taken in hand, our neighbours will quietly approach and 
surround us, and finally, without exercising any violence, 
drive us from the country. This is already beginning to be 
observed, and what can we expect from the numerous 
arrivals of settlers in Cayenne, and the removal of Spanish 
people and plantations in Guayana so much nearer to our 
boundaries ? The latter go to work openly, like a proud 
nation, and they can, therefore, be better opposed, an open 
enemy never being so dangerous as a secret one. 

But the former will go to work in an entirely different 
way. They will, I think, at first be careful not to pass the 
River Marewyne on the sea-coast (their boundary-line with 
Surinam), but it is to be expected that they will do so 
inland and behind our Colonies, and then quietly reach the 
banks of the Essequibo, and thus approach us (e.g., the 
Ohio in North America) or the Portuguese on the Amazon. 

A few years ago I saw a passport issued by a Governor 
of Cayenne, which was headed, "Governor of the French 
Colonies from the Amazon to the Orinoco." Ex wigue 
Leonem. 

To try and avoid or prevent this by garrisons, forts or 
such like would be an impossible matter, and there would 
be nothing with which to make good the costs. 

The only means of preventing it, of keeping the 
Colonies, and of rendering them eminently profitable and 
advantageous to the Republic is their population and 
proper encouragement for the inhabitants. 

But this serving only as a brief treatise upon the Posts, 
I shall make an end here, having dealt with that matter as 
briefly as possible. 



474 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 472/72 

December 28, 1764. 
(Extracts) 

After speaking of the diffic2ilty he has in procuring ejiongh 
stone or bricks for the erection of a neiv mill Stortn goes 
on to say: 

The hewn stones of Fort KijkoveraP (for the bricks have 
already all been brought down and used on Your Honours' 
plantations) would go a very long way, but, YY. HH., to pull 
them down and bring them away would require very much 
time and labour; it is an old Portuguese construction-, 
built extra solid and strong-. 



^ This fort, situated on an island at the confluence of the Esse- 
quibo and Cuyuni, does not appear to have been in use and was 
certainly not of much use on Storm's arrival in the Colony in 1738', 
in 1744 the Commander expressed his intention of repairing it, its 
upkeep being regarded as "of the utmost necessity" (see p. 209), but 
four years later it was resolved to raze it, probably owing to the 
difficulty of obtaining labour (see p. 235), and in //Jo it was reported 
as abandoned but "not yet razed" (see p. 254). In iyS5 Storm had 
the Fort cleaned and announced his intention of placing some guns 
there as a precaution against the Akawois (see p. 341) but it is not 
clear whether this was actually done. In any case, it appears to have 
been utterly in ruins at the date of the above despatch. 

^ This strange statement — startling, indeed, from an historical 
point of view— has, through the instrumentality of Hartsinck and 
Dalton, been handed down to posterity. There is little doubt that 
Hartsinck either copied it direct from the above despatch or got it 
indirectly from Storm (cf. p. 460), for in his reference to Fort 
Kijkoveral as a Portuguese construction {Beschrijvhig van Guiana, 
tom. i. p. 207) he also mentions the use of its stones for the very mill 
referred to above ; there is still less doubt that the statement was 
an erroneous one (or that Portuguese was, perhaps, simply a slip for 
Spanish), for, in spite of long and deep research, no trace of Portu- 
guese occupation of the Essequibo can be found. Netscher {Ge- 
schiedefiis van Essequebo, pp. 338, 339) has a very exhaustive note on 
the subject. See also Ven. Arb. Brit. App. vii. pp. 239-242. 



DESPATCHES 4/5 

I am greatly obliged to YY. HH. for kindly considering 
by what means I could be somewhat relieved from the 
manifold duties pressing upon me. 

Those duties, YY. HH., increase from day to day, whilst 
my strength grows less. I have been able to get along for 
more than twenty years by working in my office from eight 
to twelve every forenoon only, not always continuously, 
and never in the afternoons except for incoming and out- 
going home letters. But now things are quite different, 
especially since the recent critical events, and these, too, 
supplemented by Mr Spoors' misfortune. For the past 
month or two I have had in my service a youth named 
Jan Brouwer to assist me in copying, but with him it is as 
with the Assistant Milborn — both write fairly well but ex- 
traordinarily slow. What I write in one morning they 
cannot copy in a week and that is so irksome to me that I 
mostly prefer to do it myself 

I have received a report from the few colonists who still 
reside in the upper reaches of the rivers that a few weeks 
ago they had seen a white man with a few Indians proceed- 
ing down the falls of the River Cuyuni and proceeding up 
the River Massaruni. I reproached them very much for 
not apprehending and sending the man to the Fort, and 
expressly charged them that if they caught sight of others 
they should immediately apprehend them and send them to 
me, which they promised to do. 

There is something behind this, YY. HH. ; these are 
spies who come and get all the information they can, and 
I fear that some trouble or other is brewing on the side of 
Cuyuni. 

Whatever trouble I have taken, and whatever promises 
1 have made, I have not been able to get any Indians up to 
the present to aid me in re-establishing the Post in Cuyuni, 
and without their help it cannot be done, because with 



476 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

slaves it is not only too costly but also too dangerous, so 
that I am in great difficulties with this work, and the re- 
establishment of that Post is, in my opinion, of the greatest 
necessity. 

The sudden and rapid increase made in the colonization 
of Cayenne affords me not only much food for reflection, 
but three or four weeks ago I received a letter from the 
Governor of Surinam in which he expresses himself very 
fully upon that subject, and in which he, like me, sees fatal 
results for our Colonies on the mainland. 

I have the honour to send YY. HH. herewith the con- 
ditions laid down by the Court of France for that coloniza- 
tion (possibly YY. HH. have already seen these, but we 
have this copy from the ship that was wrecked near the 
Corentin). That Court is not accustomed to lay out such 
unheard-of sums as have been expended in this matter with- 
out having some great and important aim. 

I have, as I had the honour to report in the postscript 
of my last, given orders for the removal of Post Arinda, and 
it is my intention, as soon as it is at all possible, to establish 
it much higher still, or to establish another Post higher up 
(but since this last cannot be done without special orders 
from YY. HH., I am obliged to await these first) in order 
that I may, at least, receive detailed reports of all the 
movements made by our neighbours in the interior, for the 
course of our River Essequibo runs so far southwards that 
I most certainly think it must, partly at least, run behind 
Cayenne, although very far inland. What gives occasion 
for more reflection is the fact that the French Commissioners 
who have been to Surinam and Berbice concerning the 
ship that was wrecked are doing their utmost to convince 
the people that the project is impracticable and must be 
dropped. I, for my part, have lived too long in these coun- 
tries to allow myself to be blinded in that way. 

The Governor (Crommelin) tells me also that the French 



DESPATCHES 477 

acted with no very good faith with the rebels of the East 
Indian ship " Nyenburg," since several, and not the least of 
them, are still in Cayenne, and who knows, says His 
Excellency, whether it was not on account of the officers 
whom he sent there, or some of whom he may have received. 
I am told that he has written fully concerning these matters 
to the Surinam Company. 

Thus, what with the French on the east and the 
Spaniards on the west, we are really like a little boat 
between two men-of-war. 

I shall not attempt to give my masters advice in a 
matter which it is in no one's power to prevent or to circum- 
vent. My only aim in this is respectfully to submit to 
YY. HH. what is our humble opinion concerning this in all 
our Colonies situated on the mainland, and our well- 
grounded fears concerning the consequences. 

I, for my part, see no remedy for this matter except by 
populating the Colony and establishing good Posts in the 
interior, from which a sharp and careful look-out can be 
kept upon all movements. 

Because, as I have already had the honour of informing 
YY. HH., if anything be undertaken it will be done inland, 
and not on the sea-coast ; of this I am perfectly certain, 
and I do not think that two years will elapse before we see 
something of the kind. 

In this emergency I have again had a talk with van der 
Heyde about Cuyuni. He has told me that the Indians 
were won over to be helpful, but that they wished in that 
case to be assured also of protection against the Spaniards. 

He is of opinion that it would be needful that, at the 
place where the Post is to stand, a good bread-ground be 
first cleared and planted, so that neither the Postholder nor 
the Indians should suffer want (since food such as fish and 
game is there in great abundance), and that it would be well 



478 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

to place there some of the old slaves, who not only do no 
more work, but are a heavy burden on the plantations, yet 
still competent to tend the bread-grounds and to keep them 
in order, and to plant again ; when, if bread were abundant, 
a great multitude of Indians would always be at and about 
the Post. 



P.R.O. 472/87 

February 3, 1765. 
(Extracts) 

Friendly relations with the Indians are certainly of the 
greatest necessity to the Colony ; the dangerous circum- 
stances in which we found ourselves, and the loyalty shown 
and assistance rendered at that time by the Caribs and Acu- 
ways, have given convincing proofs of what advantage their 
friendship, and how injurious their enmity, might be to the 
Colonies. Notwithstanding this, many of our colonists do 
not hesitate to ill-treat and oppress these people in every way. 
YY. HH. would not believe how I am troubled by the com- 
plaints of these people ; within a fortnight I have had more 
than ten of them who came to tell me their grievances, and 
only this morning I had three. 

An Indian can never tell the truth, and that makes 
matters very difficult ; a whole party of them has to appear 
before the Court on the 22nd inst. 

I know of no other remedy for this than that the 
Sovereign shall strictly forbid anyone to detain, under 
any pretext whatsoever, any free Indians, male or female, 
upon his plantation against their will, or to hinder them 
from departing whithersoever they please, upon their 
desiring so to do. 



DESPATCHES 4/9 

Old Mr Clarke is dead\ I am expecting his son and 
heir (who has the honour of being known to YY. HH.) in 
Demerara next month, in accordance with what he wrote 
me by this vessel^. Upon his arrival I will endeavour to 
come to an arrangement with him^ 

Upon that matter YY. HH. are pleased to say that YY. HH, 
cannot recognize any foreign assistance without the authority 
or approval of the Sovereign. Unfortunate indeed for these 
remote lying regions ! If in unexpected emergencies we 
have to wait for help from Europe the colony would be lost 
long before preparations could be made, and if Berbice had 
received help so speedily from Barbados as did Demerara, 
matters would probably not have gone so far and those 

1 See pp. 39-43. 

^ Gedney Clarke, Jr., was then returning from Europe (cf. Note on 
p. 440). The following extract from a letter addressed by him later in 
the same year to Count Bentinck may be of interest here corroborating, 
too, as it does, his father's opmion of the West India Company's 
methods. 

Barbados, 17th Sept., 1765. 

...I shall do all that lays in my power for the wellfare of Demerary ; 
since my heart is full as warm nay as warm as ever in its service. 

Indeed the progress this infant Settlement is making (notwith- 
standing how much it has been neglected) is surprising. But the 
Inhabitants want assistence of every kind from Fatherland ; and they 
are with the greatest impatience waiting the next year, when the 
Prince will be of age. It is then that we are to hope for relief; and 
to pray that Demerary may become a free post [port!'], as St Eustatius 
is now. If Zealand had not usurped an exclusive [right?] to the trade 
of that colony it is evident that it wou'd long e'er this have been in a 
flourishing State ; since Amsterdam would have pushed matters with 
more becoming spirit than Middelbourg has heretofore done : for 
Your Excellency will hardly think that since I had the honour of 
paying you my respects four years ago nothing seems to have been 
done for its Service but to send a few soldiers to the Colony. But 
indeed we have been so long in vain expectations that we no more 
relay on procuring assistance from Middelbourg. We must therefore 
wait with patience the fortunate period before mentioned ; when we 
hope the Company will be roused from its appearant Lethargy by the 
hands of power justice and humanity.... {^Brit. Miis. Eg. MSS. 1720.) 

^ Concerning his claim for aid against rebels. Cf. pp. 43 (Note 2), 
44 (Note 6), 483 and 599. 



48o STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

enormous costs already and yet to be incurred for re- 
storing order would possibly to a great extent have been 
spared. But as I have no knowledge of matters of that sort 
I will break off, but it is natural that he who falls into the 
water clutches, to save himself, at the first thing that 
presents itself 

Truly and honestly be it said, YY. HH., in order to have 
West Indian understanding one must have been in the 
West Indies. This I had the honour of saying to His late 
Serene Highness of laudable memory, and it is literally 
true ; if we but had the honour of seeing one or two 
members of Your Honours' body here for a year things 
would soon change their appearance. 

This Colony is no longer what it was when I arrived in 
the country nearly 27 years ago ; the difference is as great 
as between Middelburg and Arnemuyden\ It is still 
growing daily and what would it be if it had received 
proper encouragement? 

It is certain and irrefutable that colonies should tend to 
the welfare and profit of the province from which they de- 
pend and, since they originate therefrom, should regard it 
as their mother and nurse. But, Noble and Right Honour- 
able Sirs, if there be a duty, and an unshirkable duty, on 
the part of children towards their parents, there is also a 
duty incumbent upon parents towards their children — they 
are compelled, whilst the latter are young, to feed and 
cherish them, and when grown up to seek and to further 
their welfare. 

The colonists are under obligation to do all in their 
power to contribute towards the welfare of their province. 
But they must not be oppressed and ground under foot. 

1 These Zealand towns are only two miles apart. In ijjg the 
population of the former was 25,000 (Blink, Nederland en sijne 
Bewoners ; i8g2) ; that of the latter has for the past two centuries 
been about a tenth of its more powerful sister. 



DESPATCHES 48 1 

This in no way reflects upon Your Honours' paternal care 
and rule, for which they have naught but praise, being con- 
vinced that YY. HH. would sweep away all causes of com- 
plaint, if able to do so. But do the private merchants, 
correspondents, shipowners, etc., act in a similar way ? Far 
from it, and experience shows sufficiently that they regard 
the colonists absolutely as their servants who have only to 
work for them — but I will leave this hateful subject. I 
have but recently seen such harsh, even unjust dealings 
concerning the mortgages for the "Carolina Medioburgensis" 
that it is impossible to be borne. In addition to this there 
are so many matters respecting which YY. HH. should be 
informed that if I would do it in writing a ream of paper 
would not suffice, and however brief I try to be I fear that 
I weary YY. HH. with my long letters. 

I also feel compelled to say that it is perfectly impossible 
for me to exist at present upon my income and I must get 
further into arrears every year ; I am now already indebted 
to my correspondent^ for over three thousand guilders. Yet 
at home I live like the meanest burgher ; my children and 
I, far from indulging in splendid dress, are clothed far be- 
neath our station. It was occasionally possible to purchase, 
although I did so reluctantly, some household provisions 
with the syrup ; this is over now, and even a barrel of butter, 
a cheese or anything like that must be paid for in money or 
by bill. 

Not a day passes but what I have strangers to entertain — 
at Court meetings, ordinary and extraordinary, and after 
church every Sunday I have at least twenty people at my 
table^. I get nothing from the plantations but the quarterly 
sugar and kiltum for the Indians and slaves, not even any 



^ Pieter de Bruijn, of Middelburg. See p. 458. 
2 The Directors' reply to this was an increase of 300 guilders per 
year in Storm's allowance for table-money (see p. 495). 

V. S. II. 31 



482 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

maize for my poultry — everything must be bought and paid 
for. The late Commander had such great expenses and 
suffered such loss on his plantation that if it had gone on for 
a few years longer he would have been totally ruined. It is 
true that YY, HH. were kind enough to write that he would be 
compensated, but now he is dead and his widow, left with 
three children of tender years, has to bear the loss\ Is not all 
this hard. Your Honours ? I have now my youngest and 
only son in Europe in order that in accordance with my 
bounden duty I may give him an education in keeping with 
his birth and one that he cannot get here ; for this I cannot 
reckon less than six hundred guilders a year. To burden 
year after year the plantation " Soestdijk-," the only pro- 
perty that we have as it were (half belonging to the widow 
and her children and half to my other children), would be 
sinful before God and man. 

Is it then not better to sell my house and land here, pay 
my debt to Mr de Bruyn*, and live quietly upon the planta- 
tion and so make shift with the little that I have for the short 
period of life that is still left me ? These and many others 
were the matters concerning which I hoped to have the 
honour of speaking with YY. HH. when accompanying my 
son and grandson. YY. HH. have been pleased not to grant 
my discharge* for which I so greatly longed. YY. HH. are 
also pleased to disapprove of my coming over. What is 
there then for me to do ? Obey and do my duty I must, 
and with the Lord's help shall, to the end of my days, but I 
am really almost at my wits' end. 



1 See p. 335. 2 See p_ ^67. 

^ His agent or "correspondent" ; cf. pp. 413, 458 and 481. 
* Applied for with great insistence both in Alay and Septe7)iber, 
1^63 (see pp. 425 and 436). 



DESPATCHES 483 

P.R.O. 472/89 

February 11, 1765. 
(Extract) 

I was startled on Saturday to see the account of what 
Mr Clarke has laid out'. What a sum ! I have ordered 
McClean to have it copied and translated in order that it 
may be examined by the Court and a copy sent to YY. HH. 
by " Het Loo," if possible. The sum reaches a total of 
41,060 gldrs. 15 stivers 2. 



P.R.O. 472/97 

March 15, 1765. 
(Extract) 

When I had the honour of writing my last despatch by 
" De Sarah*" I was compelled to do so by another's hand 
and to content myself with dictating and signing the same, 
since it had pleased the Almighty to visit me with a severe 
illness ; for some days I was beset with great pains in my 
head and loins, and these at last became so intense that I 
was unable to attend the extraordinary Court meeting of 
the 12th of February. On the 14th my temperature rose 
four times to such a height that the surgeons and I thought 
there was but little hope of my recovery. 



' For the aid rendered at the time of the Berbice slave rising 
(see pp. 42-44 and 599). 

^ ^3421. IS. 3^. in English currency ; Hartsinck {Beschnjving 
van Guiana., torn. i. p. 275) quotes the amount of Clarke's claim as 
eight thousand pounds sterling (and this has been copied by later 
historians) but, as usual, does not mention the source of his informa- 
tion. Possibly he meant Flemish pounds, which would have been 
equal to just half the amount he quotes. (Cf. p. 599, and see especially 
— note on p. 43 — what Rodway says on the matter.) 

^ DdXed Jafiuary 12, lydj. From that despatch little of interest is 
to be gleaned except the fact that Mr N. Rousselet de la Jarie had 
been appointed Secretary ad interim and Salesmaster during Mr 
Spoors' absence in Europe. 

31—2 



484 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 472/101 

May II, 1765. 
(Extract) 

I have not received any report concerning the removal 
of Post Arinda. I had instructed the Postholder to come 
down at the beginning of this year, but as he has been 
earnestly charged to keep a sharp look-out upon all that 
goes on beyond his Post and in the interior, he has possibly 
been detained. Since my letter by " De Sarah," I have 
received no further information from Cayenne. 



P.R.O. 472/104 

May 27, 1765. 
(Extracts) 

I hear nothing of the Postholder of Arinda ; if anything 
had happened to him I should certainly have heard some- 
thing of it through the Indians, and therefore I do not 
know to what to attribute his long silence. I presume that 
he has gone among the natives right up in the interior in 
order to obtain accurate information of how matters stand. 
1 am longing for his coming, and have sent orders to the 
Post to send me information. Our traders who were 
wont to go up stream to traffic with the Indians do not 
seem to trust that business, for not one of them comes and 
asks for a pass now. 

The discovery I have this year made of a tree called 
Ouaroiichi by the Caribs and arbre a siiif in Cayenne^ may 

^ " ]Jouarouchi, ou arbre k suif de la Guyana, a une graine jaune, de 
la forme d une muscade et de la grosseur d'une noisette, couverte d'une 
petite pellicule qui renfenne une amande. On gratte, on lave et on 
pile cette amande, et on en fait une pate qu'on brasse fortement dans 
une chaudiere, jusqu'k ce qu'elle se couvre d'humiditd et d'une sorte de 
fum^e; on la soumet alors a la presse ; il en decoule un sue qui se fige 
et forme le suif v^g^tal ; on le fait bouillir de nouveau le lendemain, 



DESPATCHES 485 

result in great profit to the Colony, for it grows in great 
quantities in the low lands and its fruit yields a yellow 
wax very fit for making candles, which are as good as wax 
ones. The fruit being now in season I have had an experi- 
ment made of it by the manager van der Heyde, who, 
quite conversant with the Carib language, was the first to 
discover the tree. The experiment, though a small one, 
turned out very well, and as soon as he has time he will 
make one on a larger scale. 

These experiments may possibly have further results, 
for upon close examination of that tree, its fruit, leaves and 
flowers I fancied I recognized in it an East Indian plant of 
great value, but I am not yet certain about it ; when in 
Demerara I hope to make closer investigations. 



P.R.O. 472/131 

August 13, 1765. 
(Extracts) 

Having left Essequibo on the ist June, I arrived at 
Demerary on the 3rd. I thought that I should again be 
prevented from undertaking this journey, as I had already 
been prevented on four consecutive occasions, because a 
few days before my departure I had received tidings from 
Upper Massaruni that the Carib nation was at war with 
that of the Acuways, and that the latter had massacred 

on le passe dans un linge, et enfin on le jette dans un moule. C'est 
en mars qu'on recueille la graine, et on la laisse ressuer deux ou trois 
jours. Le sue laiteux qui ddcoule de cet arbre par des incisions, 
mdlang^ avec de Thuile et du sue de citron, passe pour un excellent 
remede centre les vers auxquels les enfants sont sujets." Larousse, 
Grand Dictionnaire, 18J4. 

'■'• Stilliiigia sebifera^ the tallow-tree, is a native of China and the 
adjacent islands, but it has been introduced into and partly naturalised 
in India and the warm parts of America. ...The tree yields a hard 
wood, used by the Chinese for printing blocks, and its leaves are 
employed for dyeing black." Treas. of Botany^ 1866. 



486 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

all the women and children in a Carib village on the 
Massaruni. 

Not without some reason did I fear that we should 
again be mixed up in this as we were a few years ago, 
especially through the indiscretion of some itinerant traders 
and avaricious settlers, who, without taking any heed of the 
consequences, allow themselves to be drawn into these 
quarrels upon the slightest inducement of profit, supporting 
one or other of the parties either with arms or with advice, 
which being discovered by the other side always leads to 
fatal results, and might be of great danger to the Colony 
itself. 

But in the meanwhile the Assistant of Arinda having 
arrived with a written Report from the Postholder, in which 
he informs me of this matter, I, finding that it was not so 
bad as had been thought, although at bottom perfectly true, 
set out upon my journey, leaving Commandant Bakker 
written instructions to send me immediate reports of any 
events of importance, and in case he should be compelled 
by the danger of the settlers up the river to send any 
soldiers there, to give the commanding subaltern strict 
orders to act simply on the defensive, and not to interfere 
directly or indirectly in the quarrels of the Indians, nor yet 
to allow himself to be induced on any account to undertake 
any attack. I also impressed upon the planters the desira- 
bility of remaining perfectly neutral in this war. 

The Report from the Postholder of Arinda states that 
all is still well as far as the Post is concerned ; that he had 
intended to proceed up the River Rupununi, but had found 
the Macoussis and VVapissanes, the two tribes living there, 
at war, which had stopped him half-way, but that he, 
having summoned an Owl of each tribe, had told them 
that he had received orders from me to proceed up the 
river, and that he should come as soon as his assistant 
had returned from below, whereupon they had answered 



DESPATCHES 487 

him that he might do so without any fear; that he had not 
yet removed the Post, having found out that the site first 
selected at the corner of the Rupununi was covered with 
four feet of water in the rainy season, but that he had 
found a very good site half-an-hour higher up. 

The Post being at present surrounded by swarms of 
Caribs who had taken up a position there, and were only 
waiting for the abandonment of the Post to fall upon the 
Acuways, against whom they felt very bitter, he had not 
considered it advisable to remove yet, since, by his doing 
so, progress up the river would be made unsafe, nay, 
impossible. Wherefore he had done all that he possibly 
could to pacify the two tribes, and had fairly succeeded ; 
but those tribes not being very trustworthy, he asks 
whether it would not be best to leave two men at the 
old Post whilst he went up the river with one as soon as he 
was sufficiently certain that the natives would keep the 
peace or go and fight it out further inland, where they 
would in all probability find their match, and thus become 
somewhat more tractable. 

This suggestion corresponding pretty well with my own 
ideas, I shall authorize him to put it into execution pro- 
visionally. 

Nothing has yet been heard of any strangers in the 
interior, and he has made such arrangements with the 
Indians that whoever might turn up would be immediately 
seized and sent to the fort. Prmcipiis obsta, sero mediciiia 
paratiir^. 

He had sent one of his assistants to the famous 
Pyramid'. This man gave me a verbal account of the 
same, and brought me a drawing which was so confused 
that I could have made absolutely nothing of it unless T 
had had his verbal explanation. I shall attempt to bring it 

^ Ovid, Rem. Amor. 91. ^ See pp. TJ and 78. 



488 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

into some order on paper, and will then have the honour 
to forward the same. 

I was obliged to send the Postholder of Moruka away 
from here very quickly, because the Indians of Pomeroon 
came to the fort to report that some canoes filled with 
Spaniards were in the Pomeroon, and because a letter 
came from his assistant informing us that some murdered 
Indians had been found in the Itaboes^ I charged him to 
go and inquire into these matters as speedily as possible, 
and, if necessary, immediately to send to Mr Bakker, who 
would then send him assistance. The creole belonging 
to YY. HH. sent up the river to spy out has also returned. 
This bold fellow has been as far as the Spanish Mission ^ 
pretending to be a runaway. He stayed there for a few 
days, and brought some pictures of saints back with him in 
order to prove that he had really been there. 

He reports that there are swarms of Akuways at that 
Mission, situated about four hours from Cuyuni on the 
west, and that the missionaries are the cause of the war 



' See p. 322. 

2 It is probable that when Storm in this despatch speaks of 
"Mission" in the singular he is simply using a general term and 
not thinking of any particular mission ; and there can be little doubt 
that in speaking of a mission four hours to the west of Cuyuni he is 
treating the Cuyuni as identical with the Uruan and Yuruari. The 
Spanish records show conclusively that at this period there were no 
missions nearer the Cuyuni than Avechica which was on the Supama, 
a tributary of the Yuruari ; and, as a matter of fact, disappeared some 
time between 1762 and iy66. According to detailed Spanish reports 
the missions were something like ten or twelve days' journey from the 
Cuyuni proper. 

No doubt from time to time further missions were projected and 
there may have been some truth in the talk of a mission beyond the 
Cuyuni, but in reality the Spaniards never got there. It was not till 
j-ZSj that they got as far as Cura and Tumeremo, which were 
close to the present Venezuelan mines, and represent the furthest 
point to the east that the Spanish missions ever reached. 

See also note on p. 90. 



DESPATCHES 489 

between the Caribs and that tribe, the natives being incited 
and provided with arms by them. 

He also says that preparations are being made to 
establish a new Mission between Cuyuni and Massaruni, 
that is, in the middle of our land. 

Should this happen we shall be compelled to oppose 
them with violence, because the consequences of that could 
only be harmful and would finally result in the ruin of the 
Colony. This is certain, that so long as no satisfaction is 
given by the Court of Spain concerning the occurrence of 
the Post in Cuyuni, the Spaniards will gradually become 
more insolent, and will encroach upon our ground from 
year to year. 

I shall meanwhile keep a watchful eye upon all their 
operations, and again send out the same creole as soon as 
the dry season sets in. 

I have also forgotten to mention that Your Honours' 
Creole who has been up in Cuyuni at the Spanish Mission 
found there Your Honours' Creole, named Ariaen, who 
was carried off a prisoner along with the Postholder and 
assistant at the raiding of the Post by the Spaniards\ He 
is at present head smith at the Mission. Is it not hard. 
Sirs, that one must look on patiently at such piracies and 
endure them ? 

There being very much to do here in Essequibo, I left 
Demerara on the i8th of July at five o'clock in the morning 
and reached the Fort here in the afternoon. What chaos 
and confusion ! Sometimes I get Mr Rousselet" in my 
house three or four times a day, he being able to get on 
with scarcely anything, and I am therefore obliged in- 
cessantly to instruct him. He has been asked for copies 

^ See p. 359. 2 See Note 3 on p. 483. 



490 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

of various letters, petitions, etc., and as these are nowhere 
to be found, he has often to go on searching from morning 
till night. 

If the Lord spare me for some time yet I will help him 
as much as I can but I am getting old, day by day weaker 
and less fitted for such continuous work and worry. In 
addition to this my memory is getting bad and I am 
obliged to make a note of everything that takes place, 
a thing I never had to do before. 



P.R.O. 472/141 

October 9, 1765. 
(Extracts) 

I am getting quite despondent and cannot possibly 
hold out much longer. In my long years of service I 
have never yet been in such pressing difficulties. The 
Company's warehouse, as I already had the honour to 
report per Capt. Robberts, having now been perfectly 
empty for some months I have had to buy piecemeal of the 
English trading from Barbados in order to feed the soldiers 
and employees. I have also distributed the last ration of 
some flour which I had been lucky enough to obtain from 
Peter Halley ; I am now without bread for my household 
and when the four weeks are over shall have none for the 
employees and am therefore at my wits' end. I have 
already written twice to Barbados for provisions, but get no 
reply. We lack everything, without exception. There 
being no oil or candles the garrison and the workmen have 
to go to bed with the chickens ; the plantations cannot 
work because there being no coals in the smithies not a 
chopper can be steeled, and all is at a standstill. In a 
word, I cannot express to YY. HH. the difficulty I am in. 
In addition to this, the provisions which we are expecting 



DESPATCHES 49 ^ 

will be Stale and of last year and most probably in no good 
condition. 

If every two months (wind and weather permitting) a 
vessel were to sail from Zeeland everything would go on 
properly and regularly and the ship would easily get its 
cargo; a few small intermediate ones could also be freighted, 
but all at once is an impossibility. 



P.R.O. 472/146 

December 13, 1765. 
(Extracts) 

The accident to "Het Hof van Ramsburg" and the long 
voyage home of "Het Loo" bring us into exceedingly great 
difficulty. Expecting no vessel here now before the end of 
the year at the earliest I am at my wits' end and know not 
what to do respecting the absolute want of everything in 
which we are and have already been so long. Had not a 
few barques arrived from St Eustatius and Barbados now 
and then I should have been obliged to discharge the 
soldiers for lack of rations, and the grumbling and daily 
complaints of the managers and other employees make me 
so despondent that I heartily wish I were out of the Colony 
and in Europe. 

In addition to this, with so many various and trouble- 
some duties, with such unmanageable and impertinent 
colonists (not the least of these being the Lutheran parson), 
with changes in the Court, all the old and more influential 
members of which have died or resigned, as did Mr Persik 
at the last meeting, YY. HH. can easily understand what a 
burden there is at present upon my shoulders. As Coun- 
cillor Changuion says in a letter from Demerara which I 
received but yesterday : " I cannot conceive how you can 
hold out at your advanced age." 



492 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDES 

YY. HH. may believe me that I have not a moment's 
rest, and as yet there is no Commander for Demerara. 
What am I to do ? I must s,uccumb in the end. However, 
I will say no more about it, but pass on to other matters. 
In Your Honours' most esteemed letter to the Court I see 
that among other things YY. HH. are pleased to remark 
that there appears to be a certain amount of truth in the 
complaints of Abel Boyer's wife, since in my letters 1 have 
maintained complete silence respecting the matter. I beg 
YY. HH. not to take it amiss if I make so bold as to ask 
whether it is possible for me to report in my letters every 
event that takes place and in particular those which come 
under the especial deliberation of the Court. How terribly 
voluminous my letters would have to be in that case ! I 
have always tried as far as lay in my power to inform 
YY. HH. of everything that occurred touching the Honour- 
able Company's interests and the welfare of the Colony. It 
is possible that, overwhelmed by a multitude of affairs and 
having not the least assistance I may occasionally have 
forgotten some matters, but 1 am sure they can have been 
of no very great importance, and I have always been more 
afraid of boring YY. HH. by the tediousness of my letters 
than of being requested to furnish reports of such matters 
as the above-mentioned. 

The Colony is no longer what it was and is still increas- 
ing daily. Respect for the Court is not great and that body 
will have even greater trouble to maintain its authority if 
every one be free to complain of its judgments. I imagine 
that I have the honour, after so long a service, to be known 
to YY. HH. and that YY. HH. are well convinced that I have 
always chosen the milder course, have ever endeavoured to 
rule more by courtesy, kind words and persuasion than by 
authority, and that I have never been influenced by self- 
interest or cupidity. To satisfy everyone is an impossibility 



DESPATCHES 493 

for any man, but I dare openly attest that I have endeavoured 
to do so as far as I was able and have wittingly suffered no 
wrong to be done ; had the Court passed any judgment 
that I thought unjust I would have postponed its execution 
until I had had the honour of reporting the matter to 
YY. HH. and received Your Honours' commands. 

The latest tidings from Berbice are not at all favourable. 
I have not received any letters from the Governor for some 
time, he having been dangerously ill, and when the last 
barque sailed thence he was not yet able to write. The 
skipper of that barque says and Captain-Commandant 
Posen writes that the place is again full of sick and that 
five or six of the soldiers are buried each day. The re- 
maining rebels are being pursued without respite. 

The colonists appear to be but little satisfied with the 
new Governor^ ; I have heard a good many complaints. In 
my last to His Honour I wrote that when a good musician 
wished to play the violin he tuned his strings in perfect 
harmony, but that if they were overstrung they must in- 
evitably break — a bon entendeiir donie parole. 

I feel ashamed, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, that 
when any ships or foreign vessels enter I am unable to hoist 
a flag at the Fort, there being now none at all, a fact that 

^ Johannes Heijliger Jobs. Filius (as his signature always ran) was 
appointed September d, 1^64, and after a very uneventful tenure of 
office, received his discharge Novetnber 2j, 1767. Netscher {Op. cit. 
p. 410) suggests that he subsequently settled in Demerara ; he was 
however really an old planter of that Colony, for in the first Register 
compiled by Storm for the year 1762 we already find Johannes 
Heijliger Jobs. Filius figuring as the owner of " Ameliswaerd" in 
Uemerara ; that for 1767 shows him still to be in possession of the 
same property, but what is interesting and even amusing, as having 
also acquired but that year (evidently upon his return) another 
plantation which he dubbed — doubtless as a compliment to Berbice — 
" U OndiDikbaarheid'" (Ingratitude). 



494 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE S 

gives place to much derision..,.! for myself have gone about 
already for some years without flag or pennant ; although 
no councillor will go without both of these and no respect- 
able colonist without a flag, I have not allowed that to affect 
me, but for the Fort to be without one is really a shame. 
I have sent everywhere to see whether I could procure a 
flag, but in vain\ 



P.R.O. 472/152 

December 27, 1765. 
(Extracts) 

Having just concluded my despatch to YY. HH. to be 
sent by this vessel, I received tidings by a second express 
from the upper part of this river that several Indians of the 
Spanish Missions which are up in Cuyuni had sailed down 
that river, and had proceeded up the Massaruni under the 
leadership of an Indian [sic] officer, whereby the people 
living up there have been in a state of great uneasiness, and 
not without reason. 

Thereupon I immediately sent off an order to H. Lussis, 
the manager of "Old Duynenburg," to summon the Honour- 
able Company's Creole, Tampoko^ who is up there, and to 
charge him to get a few Caribs to go up the Massaruni 
with him to apprehend that Spanish officer, and to bring him 
to me. 

Also to inquire most carefully whether a commencement 
had been made with the projected Mission between Cuyuni 
and Massaruni, of which I had the honour to write by the 
vessel "De Spoor"; this is the same Creole of whom I had 
spoken in my despatch by "De Spoor" as being a bold 
and fearless fellow, in whom I think I can trust. 

1 Cf. p. 62. 

2 Storm almost invariably spells Tampoco's name in this way, 
possibly oblivious of its manifestly Spanish origin. 



DESPATCHES 495 

And I have ordered Commandant Bakker to hold him- 
self in readiness to start up the river with a detachment at 
a moment's notice in case it should be found necessary. 

My manifold duties just now absolutely prevent me from 
replying by " 't Land Canaan " to Your Honours' much 
esteemed letter and I fear it may even be difficult to do so 
by " De Carolina Medioburgensis," which sails about the 
middle of January, Between now and then there are the 
extraordinary Court meetings this month and the ordinary 
ones in the beginning of the next, the compilation of the 
Register^ making-up the books (in which I have to assist), 
completing the bills of exchange, drawing up and despatch- 
ing the accounts of the Company's and Colony's dues and 
many other things, all of which give me so much to do that 
I scarcely know where to begin. I will therefore only 
answer certain clauses, so far as time permits. 

I begin by tendering YY. HH. my heartfelt thanks for the 
gracious increase of my table-money-, the consignment of a 
hogshead of red wine and especially for the approval of my 
conduct up to the present. 



^ See p. 400. 

2 This increase was one of 300 guilders (see Netscher, Op. cit. 
p. 137) and was made by the Zeeland Chamber in reply to the bitter 
complaints submitted by Storm in February of that year (see pp. 481 
et seq.) concerninghis inability to make ends meet. Storm alludes to it, 
evidently by a lapsus calami, in his next despatch (see p. 499) as an 
increase of "salary," though it is quite possible that he regarded both 
items under the same heading. 



496 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O, 472/169 

January 18, 1766. 
(Extracts) 

Since my last short but severe illness^ I feel, the Lord 
be praised, very well, considering my age, and thank the 
Almighty for his goodness herein, since it were else perfectly 
impossible for me to get through my manifold duties in the 
confused state in which matters now are. 

The white man who had come down the River Cuyuni 
and sailed up the River Massaruni, as I reported in my last 
despatch^ has got away and has not been seen since, but 
having received news in time of the coming of the Spanish 
Indians and their Captain, as they call him (we say an Owl), 
Your Honours' Creole Tampoko, having very carefully 
observed my orders, went after them immediately with a 
party of Indians, overtook and brought them here to me, 
and being again immediately sent out to go and find one of 
them, a very suspicious character, who, I had been informed, 
had gone overland to Pomeroon to buy boats, he came back 
to me very quickly with him. 

Having closely interrogated the former, I found that they 
had come at the request of a Carib Owl of Massaruni, who, 
having an old grudge against the Acuway tribe, had urged 
the others of his nation living under this jurisdiction to help 
him to fight the Acuways, which they had, however, refused 
to do, reminding him of my oft-repeated commands. He 
had then called these Spanish Indians to his assistance, but 
the Acuways, warned by the other Caribs, were on their 
guard, and ready to receive them well. 

I ordered the Spanish Indians to return to their homes 
immediately, and not to come here again, otherwise I would 
have them received in a disagreeable manner, whereupon, 
being greatly terrified, they departed with the utmost haste. 

» See p. 483. 2 See p. 494. 



DESPATCHES 497 

I have sent word to the Owl of Massaruni that in case 
he did such a thing again I would send him to North 
America in an English ship. He has promised me to obey 
this order. I have treated him in a much more lenient 
manner than I should otherwise have done, because he is 
one of those who behaved so well at the time of the troubles 
in Berbice. 

During the examination of the Spanish Indians, I found 
that the guns, powder, and shot which Messrs van der 
Heyde and Bakker had found in their boats up the river 
had been sold to them by the colonist, Bastiaen Christiaense, 
for hammocks and greyhounds. 

They said that he had not actually incited them to 
murder the Acuways, but that they could do what they 
pleased, because it was a savage tribe for whom we did 
not care. This is bad behaviour, YV. HH., for it is still fresh 
in our memories what danger the Colony was in, and what 
trouble I had to keep on terms of peace with that tribe ; but 
I am convinced that this man will declare it all to be a pack 
of lies when I speak to him about it, which I intend to do 
at an early opportunity. 

This was not the case with the other Indian brousfht 
down by Tampoko ; this man was found to be a spy from 
the Spanish Missions, going continually to and fro to report 
what he saw. I have placed him in Tampoko's keeping, and 
ordered him not to move out of sight of the latter, and the 
Indians round about us have promised to crack his skull if 
they find him alone. 

According to the reports of the Spanish Indians, it is 
only too true that there is a desire to establish new Missions 
in Cuyuni and above Cuyuni, but now that a beginning is 
to be made with re-establishing the Post as soon as possible, 
I hope that an end will be put to all these encroachments. 
I have already engaged a Postholder who is well acquainted 
with Indian languages, and as soon as some of the buildings 

v. s. II. 32 



498 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

are ready I will give him a commando of one under-officer 
and six men to begin with until it is well established ; but 
I have some trouble in finding six Protestant soldiers, it 
being of importance that no Roman Catholic, and especially 
no French, be sent there, because they are not to be trusted 
at all, and more than half of the garrison consists of 
Frenchmen. 

My desire to come to Europe and to have the honour of 
presenting my respects to YY. HH. in person is very great, 
but I quite understand that it would be inexcusable on my 
part to undertake the journey now ; matters in the Colony 
being at present in such confusion in many ways, and it 
being as impossible for Mr Rousselet to get on without my 
assistance as it is to reach Heaven with one's hands, I will 
readily confess that in spite of all my endeavours I cannot 
see any hope or possibility of getting the office affairs into 
order. 

What a burden it is, YY. HH., that I have now to do 
everything myself or have it done in my presence. So long, 
however, as the Lord preserves me in health I will console 
myself with the thought that I am doing my duty and that 
I fear no labour so long as I perform it to the satisfaction 
of my greatly esteemed lords and masters. 

Heaven grant that the time may soon come when YY. HH. 
will be able to further the progress of this Colony ; for that 
time I long, and have already longed for so many years, 
with heart and soul. The matter has gone on a good deal 
longer than I ever thought it would, and it is not too soon 
that an end was made of iV. When a settlement shall at 



1 In this somewhat guarded utterance Storm refers to the dispute 
that had dragged on for long years between the Zeeland and Amster- 
dam Chambers (see pp. 143-145). He himself had always carefully 
abstained from contributing aught to the discussion and scarcely ever 
alluded to it. 



DESPATCHES 499 

length have been made I hope to have the honour to submit 
to YY. HH. my humble considerations concerning the mer- 
chants, correspondents and ship-owners, my time being so 
taken up at present that I have but five days in which to 
write and copy this letter, compile the Register, balance the 
books, sign the bills, send out the colonists' accounts, draft 
the Court of Policy's despatch^ and attend to much else, to 
say nothing of the usual daily work, of the two intervening 
Court meetings and of the tiring New Year's Day. Where- 
fore I trust that YY. HH., caking all this into consideration, 
will kindly excuse the haste with which this is written and 
the brevity of some of the paragraphs, also if anything has 
unintentionally been omitted, for I am not left in peace for 
half-an-hour together. 

I have once more the honour to repeat my thanks for 
the gracious increase in my salary^ and the consignment of 
a hogshead of red wine. " De Phoenix " not having yet 
arrived I have not yet received the latter, and I fear, not 
without reason, we shall never see that vessel. We are 
looking out for "De Laurens en Maria" very anxiously. 

The time for the ripening of the fruit of the oiiaronchi 
tree is in the ensuing month of February, when I hope to 
have the honour to send YY. HH. a few specimens^ I am 
getting more and more convinced that it is the genuine 
nutmeg-tree, but in its wild state and with small fruit, just 
as I have always regarded our Akawoi or wild cinnamon 
as being the true cinnamon that grows in Ceylon ; this the 
Portuguese, after examination and experiment, have also 
found to be the case. I have already planted several young 

1 The Court of Policy always sent home a despatch of its own 
signed by the Director and all the Councillors. These despatches 
were entirely lacking in the interest attaching to those written by 
Storm in his own name. 

^ See p. 495. 3 See pp. 484, 485. 

32—2 



500 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

trees but not one has thriven and I can find no one capable 
enough to go into the woods up in Rupununi to get some 
good specimens. 

I beg YY. HH. to be good enough carefully to examine 
the soldiers that are sent us in future. Pray do not let us 
have any more French, and as few Roman Catholics as 
possible. The Commandant cannot find six Protestants 
for the Posts in Cuyuni, and we dare not trust Catholics 
to go there. What is to be done ? 



P.R.O. 472/212 

April 6, 1766. 
(Extracts) 

I was very pleased to hear that yy. HH. approved of the 
instructions and orders given to Commandant Bakker con- 
cerning the measures to be taken during my absence with 
regard to the war between the Carib and Akawoi nations. 
The same were accurately followed, and so much was done 
both by persuasion and by threats that, although there is a 
great feeling of bitterness on both sides, nothing of import- 
ance has actually taken place between them, the fighting 
having been restricted to a few skirmishes that occurred 
under cover of night. I have as yet no report how matters 
stand at Arinda, the Postholder, who has at last undertaken 
the journey to the interior according to my reiterated 
instructions, having sent me word to say that he hoped to 
come down in March, but though we know when we go out' 
we know not when we shall return. 

As to the p)Tamid, I have the honour to inform VY. HH. 
that already in the first years of my stay in this country 
I heard many stories told by old inhabitants how up in the 
Rupununi there was a very high pyramid built of stone, of 
which people talked even in the neighbouring districts ; 



DESPATCHES 501 

I have received several letters asking for information upon 
this subject, though I have never been and still am not 
able to give a satisfactory answer thereto, for, notwith- 
standing all the pains I have taken, and the promises I 
have made, I have not succeeded in finding any one who 
would go to examine it because of inveterate superstition, 
the Indians all being unanimously of belief that it is 
the dwelling-place of the Jawaho, the name they give to 
the Devil. In the year 1740 a mulatto, Pieter Tollenaer 
(the same one who brought back Your Honours' Creoles who 
had run away on account of the ill-treatment of the miner 
Hildebrand), at my request, undertook to make a voyage 
thither in company with two of these Creoles and upon 
their return I was assured of the reality of that affair, for 
he brought with him a rough drawing thereof, and also of 
various images which he had seen near it cut in the stone. 

The circumstance that this mulatto died shortly after 
his return gave further support to the superstition, and 
whatever trouble I have taken, I have not since that time 
been able to obtain information thereof, except only the 
report of the Councillor E. Pypersberg, who has recently 
died, that, as he was coming down Massaruni, up which he 
had gone in pursuit of his runaway slaves so far that he had 
come to tribes who had never seen white people, he had 
distinctly seen, also on his right hand, in about the same 
direction, yet another very high pyramid, which he had 
been very curious to examine from near by, but, as he had 
only Indians with him besides his runaway and captured 
slaves, he had not dared to leave his boat. 

The thing now having at last been undertaken by the 
assistant Bakker, who has also brought with him a very 
rude and imperfect sketch of both of them, the one being 
in sight from the other, I have considered it my duty to 
give YY. HH. as well as possible some information about 
them. By the same opportunity I have sent a copy to my 



502 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDES 

good friend Professor Allamand\ at Leyden, requesting to 
have his opinion upon it, to which I have not yet received 
an answer. 

The fame of the same consists in naught else than the 
continual talk of the Indians about it and the curiosity 
which must necessarily arise to find out who were the 
builders of it, which is indeed well worthy of investigation. 
In the Old World there are, so far as I am aware, no other 
builders of pyramids known than the ancient Egyptians, 
and it is by no means probable that they sent any colony 
to this New Worlds 

It is also a certain and infallible rule here that in all 
places where the Indians say that the Jawaho lives there is 

1 See pp. 370, 371. 

^ The Company's reply to the above was dated September <?, 1766, 
and ran : — 

" Beginning, then, with the [letter] of the 6th April, written in 
Demerara, we have seen from it with pleasure the provisional in- 
formation given us by you concerning those uncommonly high 
pyramids which, according to the statement of various persons, are 
said to exist up in Rupununi, built of stone, and even ornamented 
with sundry figures carved in stone. 

" We should be glad if in the Colony some one could be found with 
the leisure, inclination, and ability to make a careful investigation 
thereof, not because we attach any belief to the stories which you 
inform us people are wont to relate about them, namely, that near 
them or under them gold or silver mines exist, though this is not 
therefore impossible, but particularly because thereby one might 
possibly get an opportunity for discoveries which might be of much 
importance to the whole learned world, and especially to all lovers of 
ancient history and to geographers, the more so since up to this time 
it is outside all probability, not to use stronger expressions, that the 
ancient Egyptians should have had a Colony in those parts, while, 
nevertheless, those ancient nations, along with the Chinese, are the 
only ones who are on record as builders of such colossal pyramids. 

" If, therefore, you can find some one in whom the three aforesaid 
requirements are united, it will afford us especial pleasure that you, as 
early as possible, employ him thereto. We likewise would not be 
averse to your trying to get a good, skilled, and honest interpreter for 
the Indian languages, as we think we have more than once told you." 

Cf. Note 3 on p. 533. 



DESPATCHES 503 

something out of the common, either gold or silver mines 
or something else, it being the policy of the old Chiefs to 
frighten off the younger ones from those places in order 
that the latter may not be explored, the acts of cruelty 
wrought by the Spaniards in those matters being still fresh 
in their memory. 

This assistant being still alive and well there is hope 
that the superstition will lose ground, and that we shall 
therefore be able to obtain some better and more reliable 
information, for upon that sort of people there is so little 
reliance to be placed that really if the Indians or Creoles 
who went with them [sic] did not agree in their accounts 
I should give the matter scant attention. This is at the 
same time an event (although one of the most trifling) 
which demonstrates the great necessity of a good, com- 
petent and honest interpreter for the Indian languages. 

I shall write to the Governor of Orinoco concerning the 
state of affairs in Barima, which would become an absolute 
den of thieves, a rag-tag-and-bobtail party of our colonists 
staying there under pretence of salting, trading with the 
Indians, and felling timber, &c. They live there like 
savages, burning each other's huts and putting each other 
in chains, and I fear that bloodshed and murder will come 
of it^ 

The west side of Barima being certainly Spanish 
territory (and that is where they are), I can use no violent 
measures to destroy this nest, not wishing to give any 
grounds for complaint ; wherefore I think of proposing to 
the Governor (who is daily being more highly praised for 
his friendliness to all foreigners) to carry this out hand-in- 
hand, or to permit me to do so, or as and in what manner 
he shall consider best. 



^ For the fulfilment of this prediction see p. 504. 



504 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 472/222 

May 30, 1766. 
(Extracts) 

Having had the honour to inform YY. IIH. in one of my 
former letters' of the barbarous mode of Hfe of some of our 
colonists in Barima, and hearing that this was getting 
gradually worse, I charged the Postholder of Moruka, when 
he came to see me whilst I was in Demerary, to proceed 
thither in order to prevent all further mischief, and, in case 
matters were really so bad, to order the evil-doers to come 
to the Fort. 

On his arrival there he found poor Thomas Adams 
bound fast to a tree with a chain, and nearly dead, having 
been thus kept for over three months by Jan Adolph van 
Rose.... After all had been carefully enquired into, the Court 
condemned van Rose to be publicly exposed under the 
gallows for one hour with the rope about his neck, and to 
be banished for ever, and to pay costs, &c., a sentence 
much too lenient for such a villain, who had behaved very 
badly the whole of the time he was in the Colony, and who 
is said to have been banished from Surinam. 

The Court made a further order forbidding any one to 
stop in Barima, and charged the Postholder of Moruka to 
see that this was carried out, because in time this would 
become a den of thieves, and expose us to the danger of 
getting mixed up in a quarrel with our neighbours the 
Spaniards'-. 



1 See p. 503. 

^ The reply of the Zeeland Directors, dated September ^j, 1766^ 
ran : — 

"We agree with you in finding the inhuman treatment of Thomas 
Adams by Jan Adolph van Roose exceedingly criminal, and the 
judgment pronounced in this case by the Court of Justice really 
too lenient in proportion to the crime. It even seems to us that 
you yourself cannot be accused of over-severity in the sentence you 



DESPATCHES 505 

I hope the Postholder of Arinda may come down 
before the closing of this letter, I having had no tidings 
from above for some time. 

The Burgher-Captain J. Knott has informed the 
Commander and myself that he had received information 
that the Acuways, having heard that the Caribs, who had 
robbed them of everything in Upper Demerary last year, 
were getting ready to attack them in still greater numbers, 
had assembled, several hundreds strong, at the place of the 
Owl Maritane (very well known to me), being right up 
between the Rivers Demerary and Essequibo, to wait for 
the Caribs, so that we are expecting a bloody battle every 
day. This might have important results, especially if the 
Caribs were beaten (which is very probable). The captain, 
who lives a good way up, has asked how he is to act in this 
matter. 

I have charged the Commander, who was present at 
the meetings here, to proceed to Upper Demerary in order 
to be on the spot in case of unforeseen events, and to take 
especial care that strict neutrality is maintained by the 

demanded against him. But in one of your preceding letters you told 
us that the place about the Barima, where some scum and offscourings 
of folk were staying together and leading a scandalous life, was Spanish 
territory, and that you intended to have Mr Rousselet, who was going 
on a mission to Orinoco submit some propositions to the Spanish 
Governor for the extirpation of that gang. And now you inform us of 
your having sent thither the Postholder of Moruka with positive orders, 
Tpro\>^h\y propria authoritate without any concurrence of the aforesaid 
Governor, inasmuch as Mr Rousselet had not yet departed thither on 
his mission, and we cannot quite make this tally with the other. If 
that place is really Spanish territory, then you have acted very im- 
prudently and irregularly ; and, on the contrary, if that place forms 
part of the Colony, and you had previously been in error as to the 
territory, then you have done very well, and we must fully approve of 
your course, as also of the Court's Resolution that henceforth no one 
shall be at liberty to stay on the Barima. But if the Court has no 
jurisdiction in that place, we see little lesult from that Resolution: 
extra tcrritorium suum jus dicetiti etiitn imptme non parctur.^'' 

For Storm's answer to the above, dated March 20^ 1767, see p. 528. 



5o6 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

citizens. I have further charged him not to interfere, 
directly or indirectly, in the matter, nor to help either of 
the nations in the slightest manner, and to make an effort, 
if there be still time, to reconcile the two parties and 
prevent bloodshed, through the mediation of the Arawaks, 
who are friends of both sides. I have myself succeeded in 
doing this several times already, both by persuasion and 
threats. 

Having received several letters from Europe asking me 
for lignum quassice^ as a specific against fever, colics, etc., 
excelling quinine, I took the greatest trouble to discover it 
here, but as it is not known by that name I should never 
have found it had I not when recently in Demerara been 
told about it by Abel Boyer, who had come across it in 
Surinam. Here it is called carawadani by the Indians, 
who are well acquainted with its virtues but keep them 
secret. Thereupon I gave orders for a quantity to be 
gathered and dried and have the honour to send YY. HH. a 
case filled with the wood and root. I have also enclosed 
a little of the seed, for the plant is well worth cultivating, 
apart from its medicinal value, being a pretty shrub with 
wonderfully shaped leaves and very fine bunches of scarlet 
flowers. I am also sending some of the seed to Professor 
Allamandl for the Hortus Medicus at Leiden. 



' Not to be confounded with the cassia lignea mentioned by Storm 
(on p. 264). " Linnaeus applied the name oi quassia to a tree of Suri- 
nam in honour of a negro, Ouassi or Coissi, who employed its bark as 
a remedy for fever, and enjoyed such a reputation among the natives 
as to be almost worshipped by some, and suspected of magic by others. 
The tree now forms a genus of Simariibacea;." Treas. of Botany^ 1866. 
We give this for what it is worth. 

Richard Schomburgk, though he describes the various kinds of 
quassia {Reisenin Britisch Guiana, tom iii. pp. 850 and loi i), adduces 
neither the above-mentioned derivation of the name nor the native 
appellation given by .Storm. 

2 See pp. 370, 371. 



DESPATCHES 507 

The pilots have reported to me that in the middle of 
the course or channel in the entrance to this river^ a great 
sandbank has formed over which at low spring tide there 
are only seven feet of water; this causes them great 
embarrassment. They are of opinion that some heavy 
rains might wash it away again, but apart from the fact that 
there is little prospect of such, since the rainy season, 
generally heaviest at the beginning, has set in very mildly, 
that is very uncertain, for I have found by experience here 
that when once a bank forms in the middle of a channel it 
invariably gets larger. Such was the case in Demerara, 
opposite the plantation " Soestdijk " ; upon my departure 
for Europe in 1750 there were only a few rushes, and now 
there is a whole island covered with shrubs and daily 
getting larger. The same thing occurred off Boerasierie, 
where it has recently been impossible to cross when the 
tide is but half out. 

This could cause much inconvenience to this Colony. 
I have ordered the pilots to take exact soundings every- 
where in order to see whether a channel might not 
somewhere be found, for I fancy this river must have 
a deep outflow somewhere, although such is by no means 
certain ; the River Waini, much larger than Demerara and 
much deeper inside, can scarcely be entered in a boat at 
low tide, having no channel, and an ordinary barque has 
difficulty in getting into the Pomeroon. 



1 The Essequibo, from which he dates the despatch ; cf. p. 529, 
Note 3. 



508 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 473/1 

October i, 1766. 
(Extracts) 

What I had the honour of writing YY. HH. concerning 
the great want we have suffered here is perfectly true in all 
its details and even short of the truth. Kindly consider, 
YY. HH., that it is 25 months since I received the same 
goods as have now come by " Het Hof van Ramsburg"; 
is it possible to make one year's rations do for 25 months? 
The plantations and slaves have suffered most, and even 
now I fear to incur Your Honours' displeasure by relating 
in what state these last goods arrived, but yet I cannot and 
may not remain silent. 

With regard to what YY. HH. were pleased to write 
concerning the manifestoes I have the honour to say that it 
is almost impossible for a Secretary to be exact in this 
matter if the skippers are negligent or wish to act in bad 
faith, to obtain proof of which would be a miracle. They 
come here before their departure and hand in their bills of 
lading, from the contents of which the Secretary makes up 
his manifest ; if they keep aught back he cannot know it, 
but must act upon their returns, wherein they are careful 
not to include their own sugars. 

I beg to assure YY. HH. that Your Honours are still far 
from being acquainted with this country, that the tricks, 
subterfuges, frauds and duplicity practised here are yet un- 
known and would appear incredible to YY. HH., and that a 
chief must move very cautiously and take no action unless 
the matter be luce meridiana clarior. 

Notwithstanding all my kindness and indulgence I am 
not without enemies. I could send YY. HH. authenticated 
copies (obtained for me sub rosa) of letters written by men 



DESPATCHES 509 

who are indebted to me for all they possess, who frequent 
nny house daily with the greatest show of friendship, and 
who in those letters treat me in the most scandalous 
manner. And if they have dared to do this in neigh- 
bouring colonies, what will they not have done with their 
poisoned pens in Zeeland, much of which is already known 
to me? 

Mr Rousselet has departed for Orinoco^ having put out 
to sea on the 15th August ; the list of runaway slaves he 
has with him comprises well over fifty. Some days before 
his departure there arrived here Don Hieronimo Fernandez 
de la Penna, Secretary to the Governor of Guayana, bring- 
ing tobacco with which to buy other commodities — a very 
decent and respectable person, I thought. I conversed with 
him at great length concerning Mr Rousselet's commission; 
he assured me that he thought the latter would be success- 
ful, that I did very well in sending such a man, who would 
be received with much respect and amiability. Amongst 
other things he said, " Your Excellency once sent a certain 
Niels," meaning Mr Schutz^, "a real barbarian ; the second 
time a certain Buisson, too stupid to sit alone by the fire, 
who, had he not had another" — that was E. Pypersberg — 
" with him, would scarcely have known why he was come. 
What can be done with such men.?" he said. " I doubt not," 
he added, " that the slaves who have not been baptized will 
be returned and restitution given for the baptized ones." 
I hope his words will prove true, for if Mr Rousselet is un- 
successful the Colony will be almost half ruined, since the 
slaves will run away in troops, and I fear very much for 
Your Honours' plantation " Aechterkerke," the slaves of 
which are the biggest scoundrels in the whole river. From 
the above YY. HH. will see clearly that it is not all the same 

1 See note on p. 505. ^ See p. 371. 



510 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

who is sent there, and yet it is very difficult to get proper 
men to go. 

I think Mr Rousselet's journey will take about five or 
six weeks and that he will be back before the " Zeeberg's " 
departure when I hope to have the honour to report 
concerning his mission at the close of this despatch. 

Forty-two slaves have run away from Leary in two lots, 
thirty-two alone from his plantation here in Essequibo, and 
it is a very remarkable thing that on the last day of Decem- 
ber, 1765, he made a return, in his own handwriting, that he 
possessed thirty-five slaves ; now there are just thirty-five 
remaining, whilst thirty- two have run away. 

From this example alone YY. HH. may now be convinced 
that I was not far wrong when I had the honour to write 
that I was sure a great deal of fraud was going on in the 
slave returns and the late Councillor Pypersberg was 
probably certain about it, though when he discussed the 
matter with me he would mention no names. 

Mr Rousselet returned from Orinoco on September 20, 
having performed the journey in five weeks, which is fairly 
quick. He was received with exceeding great courtesy and 
affability but could get nothing done respecting the restitu- 
tion of the slaves. Yet, notwithstanding an order from the 
Governor of Cumana (under whose jurisdiction Guayana is) 
which was shown him, and wherein not only the restitution 
of slaves but also the payment of any price for them is for- 
bidden, the Governor of Guayana solemnly promised upon 
his honour that the slaves should be sold and the amount 
they fetched handed over to us and that the matter should 
be quite settled and liquidated before the expiration of his 
term of office, which has only three months to run. 

If this promise be kept it will be at least something for 
the owners of the slaves, but for the Colony in general it 
would have been much more profitable if even but a fourth 



DESPATCHES 511 

part of them had been actually handed over and brought 
back ; that would have frightened others, but now I fear 
desertion will be rife and that many people will be ruined if 
no effective measures are put into operation, as I already 
had the honour to mention above. 

Could nothing be done with the Spanish Ambassador in 
The Hague concerning this matter^^ It is indeed very hard 
that neighbouring and allied nations take each other's pro- 
perty by force in this manner and freely appropriate it. 
The accompanying copy^of the letter from the Governor of 
Cumand will show YY. HH. the sentiments of some of those 
officials, and it must not be thought that they have their 
Sovereign's interest in view — no, YY. HH., to fill their own 
purse is their aim. There are still at the present moment 
in the house of the Commandant of Guayana, Don Juan 
Valdez, slaves who ran away from us about eight years ago ; 
they have been recently seen and spoken to. 

^ See note on p. 64. To this and many similar entreaties the 
Directors sent a most unsatisfactory and somewhat mettlesome reply 
dated August .?/, //d/, which ran : — 

"As to taking efficacious measures against the running away of 
slaves to Orinoco and elsewhere, we are as much as anybody con- 
vinced of the necessity thereof; but in our missive of the 9th March 
of this year we already told you how little effect we were expecting 
from any representations or requests here in Europe, in view of the 
result obtained at the Court of Spain by the representations made at 
the request of the Presidial Chamber of Amsterdam, regarding the 
slaves absconding from Curasao to the coasts of Cora. However, in 
order that we rnay have nothing wherewith to reproach ourselves, we 
have appointed a committee to report to the Pensionary of this province 
about the condition of affairs, in order that he may, when opportunity 
offers, lay the matter before the meeting of the Provincial Estates and 
bring it about that the Deputies to the States-General be instructed to 
urge in that body that Mr Doublet van Groeneveld be requested to 
make the most vigorous representations to His Catholic Majesty, to 
the end that the slaves deserting from Essequibo cmn annexis to the 
Spanish Colonies may be returned, as has always hitherto been done 
until a few years ago, &c., and this is all we can do here in this 
country." 

2 Inclosure No. 2. See p. 513. 



512 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE'S 

The Governor has answered my letter very pohtely^ ; 
we must now wait and see what happens. 

The letter from the Governor of Cuman^^ deserves the 
most serious attention on the part of yy. hh., who will see 
from it that he desires the runaways to be declared free but 
never permitted to travel or go by water lest they be carried 
off by the Dutch, since they have been admitted into the 
Catholic faith by baptism. All the world knows how far 
the faith of Indians and negroes converted by their mis- 
sionaries extends. I have spoken to some of those Indians 
who were scarcely aware that there was a Supreme Being 
and knew absolutely nothing of religion beyond the " Ave 
Maria" and the " Pater Noster," whilst a few could say the 
Creed in Latin and make the sign of the Cross. Fine 
Christians indeed ! 



[Inclosure No. i.] 
Dear Sir, 

I received, with the esteem due to Your Honour's re- 
spected personality, the letter brought to me by Mr de Rousselet, 
charged with the matter of the negro slaves, fugitives from your 
Colony, whom I treated with the regard corresponding to his merit 
and laudable qualities and in conformity with Your Honour's re- 
commendation, and I assure Your Honour of my sincere desire to 
repair, as far as in me lies, the loss occasioned by the said slaves 
to the inhabitants of your Colony. 

Your Honour's delegate has admirably fulfilled his charge and 
returns furnished with the documents necessary to attest his zeal 
and my desire to please Your Honour by the maintenance of 
perfect harmony with your Colony. He has left his credendals 
with the Government in order that the desirable despatch may be 
employed in this matter, wherein Your Honour may be assured 
I shall not omit my part to bring it to the earliest possible 
conclusion. 



^ Inclosure No. i. 

2 Inclosure No. 2. See p. 513. 



DESPATCHES 5 I 3 

Your Honour may dispose of me whenever it may please you. 
God keep Your Honour many years. 

JoACHiN Moreno Mendoza. 

Nueva Ciudad de Guayana, 
Angostura de Orinoco, 

September 9, 1766. 

Governor Don Louis Storm de 's Gravesande. 



[Inclosure No. 2.] 
Dear Sir, 

From your letter of the 2nd inst. I see that a negro 
slave came fieeing from the Colony of Essequibo in search of Holy 
Baptism. ...If you find that this negro slave certainly fled in 
order to become a Christian through baptism you shall guard and 
protect him in His Majesty's royal name. ...And if his master 
should subsequently happen to demand him you shall under no 
circumstances give him up but maintain and guard him in the 
possession of Christianity which he came to seek, taking care that 
he is well treated and that he has free use of his person without 
any subjection or slavery whatsoever, charging him ever to live 
quietly and in a Christian manner, to follow his trade or to per- 
form his work in order to acquire the means wherewith to exist 
honourably, but not permitting him to travel upon this river nor 
to go out of your sight lest he be perverted or taken by the Dutch 
and this new plant be lost. ...God guard you many years. 

Joseph Diguja. 
Cumana, October 12, 1766. 

Don Juan Valdes. 



P.R.O. 473/22 

December 3, 1766. 
(Extracts) 

Your Honours' highly esteemed commands contained 
in the despatch of the 8th September shall so far as in any- 
way possible be exactly executed and as speedily as 
expediency permits, and from the first of next January 
I shall have a careful account kept of the distribution of 

v.s. II. 33 



514 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

the rations and other provisions and a complete list of such 
rations drawn up. If I remember rightly I already had the 
honour not very long ago of sending YY. HH. a ration list. 
But for me to give the exact dates of all Your Honours' 
resolutions or letters wherein the respective rations have 
been decreed or ordered is impossible. I should be obliged 
to read through all Your Honours' letters addressed to the 
Court of Policy and to myself and what a work would that 
not be ! I know for certain that no rations beyond the 
usual ones are distributed except by Your Honours' special 
permission, and in accordance with the hard-and-fast rules 
obtaining in this Colony upon my arrival and doubtless 
based upon Your Honours' commands. 

The ordinary employees, such as corporals and soldiers, 
receive every four weeks 28 lbs. of meat and 16 lbs. of meal ; 
the artizans, sergeants, foremen, &c., 42 lbs. of meat and 
24 lbs. of flour, whilst those drawing double rations get 
56 lbs. of meat and 32 lbs. of flour, as YY. HH. may see by 
the list. 

Many clauses of Your Honours' very esteemed letter 
have been already answered in my previous respective 
despatches and Mr Rousselet being at the moment here in 
Demerara I shall speak to him very seriously concerning 
the ships' manifests. I have already done so on several 
occasions ; I myself do not get the papers until the 
moment of closing the letter-bag. when my house is full of 
people and I am obliged to put my letter to YY. HH. (which 
has to be kept open until that moment) in order. It is 
hard, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, as I have had the 
honour to write more than once, that I am obliged to be 
everywhere and let my eye go over everything if I want it 
properly done. In the daily increase of affairs, at my 
advanced age and with my constant ailments it is 
impossible for me to do as much as I would wish and as 
my duty demands, but ad hnpossibile nemo tenetur. 



DESPATCHES 515 

That is also the principal reason, YY. HH., for the 
respectful request for my discharge contained in my letter 
going by this ship, it being impossible for me to endure the 
fatigues inseparable from my office without succumbing 
thereto. In addition to that the continual cavilling and 
secret opposition to which I am exposed render my life a 
sorrow and burden to me. It is true that if it be given me 
to obtain Your Honours' approval of my conduct I ought 
to laugh at all the rest and treat it as naught, but, YY. HH., 
that cannot always be done — even a worm will turn. 

There are four or five marplots in this Colony who will 
not rest until they have dug my grave — that is the aim of 
all their endeavours, and I think it best to give in to them 
and let them find out whether they will be better off under 
another chief My persistence in having Your Honours' 
commands executed as exactly as possible and in allowing 
no deviation whatever from that course is not to their 
liking, and my long experience and accurate knowledge of 
all that is going on does not permit them to hope either to 
deceive or to mislead me. 

[ Thereupon Storm once more repeats his request to be dis- 
charged, in the usual terms and with the usual accompanying 
expressions of gratitude""?^ 

The Postholder of Arinda is at present here ; the fellow 
has not made the slightest attempt to carry out his 
instructions ; he blames the assistant, Bakker, for this, who 
again throws the blame upon him. It is a chaos of con- 
flicting statements, of which it is impossible to make 
anything. But the assistant being universally known as a 
rogue, I shall send him out of the Colony with the first 
English vessel. He will then not be able to do any more 
mischief, and I shall promote \sic\ the Postholder to the 
rank of assistant if 1 can only manage to find another. 

* See his applications of May and September^ 176J ; pp. 425 and 436. 

33-2 



5l6 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

I have set one of the assistants of Moruka to carry 
a gun once more on the Island of Borssele. 

The Postholder of Cuyuni is, according to the latest 
reports, lying ill at the Post, This is a great pity, because 
he makes great progress in his work, and we should lose a 
great deal in him. But sickness is the fate which overtakes 
all, without exception, who proceed up the Cuyuni for the 
first time, especially in the dry season, which still continues. 



P.R.O. 473/23 

December 8, 1766. 
(Extracts) 

On the 1 2th of October, the day of my entry upon my 

sixty-third year, " De Spoor" came to anchor before the 

Fort, having just met the pilot who was going to Demerara 

to take the " Zeeberg " out to sea, which vessel was too 

ully laden to go out before the full moon. 

"De Spoor" brought me Your Honours' much esteemed 
despatch of the 19th July last, the circumstantial reply to 
which I shall, I fear, have to postpone until the departure 
of " Het Hof Ramsburg" or the "Maria Aletta," since, in 
addition to my being seriously incommoded by gout, time 
is so short and my duties so manifold that I can take 
scarcely a few hours' rest and must leave it to Mr Spoors, 
who arrived in the above-mentioned vessel, to write a full 
and circumstantial report of Your Honours' plantations. 
The administration of the latter has now been entrusted to 
that gentleman in conjunction with me^ — this to my great 
annoyance, be it said en passant, as YY, HH. will already have 
observed from an earlier letter^ — and matters will, I hope, 
be speedily put right by the salutary resolution concerning 
the managers passed and transmitted by YY. HH. The care 
of the plantations will have to fall mostly on Mr Spoors 
alone for a month or two since it is my intention, if the 

' See p. 38. 2 See p. 429. 



DESPATCHES 517 

Lord will, to proceed to Demerara to-day a fortnight, 
where my presence is very necessary but whither it was 
impossible for me to go before the arrival of this ship. 

In addition to this, both my daughters were civilly 
married' the day after the vessel's arrival and intend to 
have their union blessed by the Church immediately upon 
our arrival in Demerara, which occasions a deal of to-do in 
the house. I shall therefore begin by answering a few, and, 
indeed, the most important of Your Honours' points. 

And firstly, I have the honour to thank YY. HH. for 
kindly appointing another assistant, because this greatly 
diminishing the other assistants' work, especially as another 
clerk has been engaged in the Secretary's office, I can 
employ one to help me in my manifold and daily increasing 
writing and copying. This favour comes, too, the more 
opportunely, since by the marriage of my daughters I have 
lost my clerks, so that I saw no chance of getting through 
my work and have already been in negotiations with a 
competent person from St Eustatius to engage him for my 
own service ; these, however, now fall through by reason of 
Your Honours' kind arrangements, and I shall now employ 
the assistant Milborn and let him accompany me wherever 
my presence may be required. 

Nothing could be better or more advantageous than 
Your Honours' plan of splitting up the requisitions into 
three or four lots ; this would not only often prevent such 
want as is occasioned by long delay in the vessels' arrival 
and by other causes, but the goods being sent off more 
betimes would certainly arrive in better condition. For 
I assure YY. HH. in all truth that various kinds of provisions, 
especially peas, beans, &c., &c., often arrive totally useless 
(though it is Your Honours' kind intention that the 

1 See p. 33. 



5l8 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

employees shall derive benefit from these things and pay 
for them as good and fit for use), their condition caused 
either by being already too stale when despatched or by 
the fault of dishonest purveyors who think "It is good 
enough for the West Indies." The samples shown YY. HH. 
are very good, of that I have no doubt, but whether the 
bulk comes up to the samples, Jioc crcdat judmis Apella 
lion ego'^. 

I have (so I have reason to believe) found a competent 
Postholder for Cuyuni in the person of Pierre Martin, 
formerly a corporal in Your Honours' service. I have 
engaged him at the rate of i6 guilders per month, and 
have given him provisionally two assistants, who are well 
acquainted with the Indian languages, each to receive 
8 guilders per month. I dare not trust any of the soldiers 
here to go there, for reasons already given in my former 
letters. He is at present engaged in putting up the 
dwellings and in bringing the Post into some order, and 
has some Caribs with him, whose number I shall greatly 
increase when sufficient bread has been planted and things 
are in a better state. 

According to the report of these same Indians, the 
Spaniards have captured and carried off Your Honours* 
Creole, Tampoko, together with an Indian slave belonging 
to my daughter, who had gone with him to buy birds and 
other things from the Indians up in Cuyuni ; some of these 
Caribs even assert that the Indian slave has been killed. 

The Postholder of Arinda not having come down the 
river, in spite of my reiterated commands, and not having 
executed any of my orders, and everything there being in con- 
fusion, I have placed one of the assistants under arrest here, 
and sent a subaltern officer up the river to bring down the 

' Horace, Satirae, I. v. loo. 



DESPATCHES 519 

Postholder, in order that I may inquire fully into the 
matter. In Maykouny, things are going at present well ; 
in Moruka, fairly so. 

The Posts are certainly, YY. HH., of the greatest import- 
ance, both for the Honourable Company as well as for the 
Colony. If we could only be so fortunate as to get hold of 
some competent Postholders we should very soon have 
good results. But this was impossible up to the present, 
the bad behaviour of several of these men having brought 
that situation into contempt, and no respectable citizen, 
however much he may wish to, dares to ask for it ; and 
with regard to the military, we cannot expect anything 
good from them. And yet, if there be any situation which 
will enable a man to put by a fair capital in a few years it 
is that of Postholder (with the exception of the one at 
Maykouny, who has little opportunity, but who, if of 
good behaviour, will be placed elsewhere when there is a 
vacancy). 

The old de Scharde had held the Post of Moruka for 
about a year and a half when he died, yet he left his son in 
Demerary a plantation with more than twenty slaves, and 
he was only beginning business'. The Spaniards who had 
come hither with tobacco, hides, and other things, all have 
to pass his door, and some of them rest at his place. What 
would prevent him, if he were a man who understood his 
interests, from buying everything from them? If they 
could at his place get the merchandize they require they 
would not be so foolish as to come here for them, but far 
from doing that, these men are, and remain, blood poor, 
and up to their ears in debt. Want of time does not 
permit me to dilate further upon this. 

If I had good under-officers and soldiers, especially 



* Aegidius de Scharde figures in the Registers (see p. 400) as the 
owner of " Hampton Court." Cf also pp. 469, 470. 



520 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE S 

Netherlanders, or, at least, Protestants, I think it would be 
possible to find a few good Postholders among them ; but 
among those I have at present there is not a single one 
except Sergeant A. Nusgen, who cannot possibly be spared. 
Only this morning I was informed that another plot had 
been formed by three or four soldiers to run away with a 
party of female slaves to Orinoco, which matter is being 
inquired into whilst I am writing this. 

It is true, and YY. HH. are pleased to say, that there is 
no virtue which carried to excess does not degenerate into 
a defect or a vice. The Dutch proverb says, " Over good 
is often mad " ; and I see the truth of this more day by day. 
Courtesy and indulgence, born of kindness, were very well 
and even necessary, as long as the Colony was in the 
condition in which I found it (that is, from the year 1738 
to 1745 or '46 inclusive) and whilst the veterans, such as 
Messrs A. Buisson and C. Boter, were still living, for whom 
all the planters had seme respect ; when I was on good 
terms with them (as was nearly always the case) I could 
get what I wanted and all went well. 

Having become accustomed to this line of conduct, fully 
approved by YY. HH. in various letters, it is somewhat 
difficult for me to make a complete change for, Receiis 
imbuta, servat odorem testa din'^. Now that the Colony has 
increased so extraordinarily and is still growing daily and, 
like Noah's Ark, holds clean and unclean, men of all 
tongues, races and nations, things are quite different, 
especially in Demerara, and one is nolens volens often 
obliged to use authority if everything is to be brought into 
proper order. Be pleased. Your Honours, to believe an old 
servant (who flatters himself he is thoroughly well known to 
YY, HH.) when he says that he will never exceed the limits 

^ Imbuta recens servat odorem testa diu. Horace, Epist. i. ii. 69. 



DESPATCHES 521 

of what is just and reasonable, and to grant him proper 
time for vindication (as I doubt not YY, HH. will do) should 
complaints be laid before YY. HH. when he is compelled to 
make use of the authority entrusted to him. 

The boast of the Amsterdam merchant that he could 
smuggle as much sugar out of Demerara as he liked proves 
that all Gascons are not in France but that some of them 
may be found in Amsterdam. I should like to see the 
fellow attempt it — it would be no loss to the Commander or 
to me, I promise him, and the revenue would do well by it. 

YY. HH. havincr done me the honour to inform me that 
YY. HH. had decided upon a garrison of forty men for the 
Colony (really much too little for the two rivers) I asked 
for no recruits, but now that more than half of the garrison 
have served their time and are asking for their discharge, 
I take the liberty to ask for a reinforcement of twenty-five 
men and one drummer. If there were a good competent 
constable or two among them they would be of the greatest 
use, for such men can really be ill dispensed with. 

Herewith I will again reiterate my request that no 
French or Flemish be sent, but as many Protestants as 
possible. The proximity of the Spaniards, and especially 
of the Spanish Missions, renders it impossible to place the 
slightest trust in Catholics. 

It is hard that neighbouring and allied nations should 
thus seek to compass the ruin of their neighbours upon the 
frivolous and really ridiculous pretext of bringing the slaves 
into the Christian religion^ — a whited sepulchre filled with 
nothing but rotting bones — because of all their Indian and 
black (so-called) Christians I have not seen a single one 
who knows anything more of religion than that there is a 



1 A further reflexion upon the matters detailed on pp. 510 to 513. 



522 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

God, and perhaps not so much as that, or with entirely 
erroneous ideas concerning the Supreme Being. 

Only a moment ago there arrived Your Honours' Creole, 
Tampoko, who, though having been captured up in Cuyuni 
by the Spaniards and sent heavily chained further into the 
interior, managed to find some means not only to rid him- 
self of his chains, but to come down through Orinoco, and 
to bring with him two negroes from Angostura, where the 
Governor lives. 

The fellow seems to be in league with the Deuce, 
because it is difficult to understand how he managed to do 
all this. He tells me that the Indian slave belonging to 
my daughter also escaped with his assistance, and that he 
is coming on behind with a party of Indians, and that 
he will probably bring a few with him. This creole is 
really priceless, considering the services that are to be got 
out of him. It is a pity, nevertheless, that he is so insolent 
when he is drunk \ 

The wood asked for went over in the " Laurens en 
Maria," by which vessel I also had the honour to write 
further concerning the ouaroiichi- and to send some ; to this 
I added a small case of the now famous quassia^, here called 
caraivadani, and for which I have received several requests 
by '■ De Spoor." I am impatiently awaiting the time for 
the ouaroiichi to ripen, for the Indians will then bring me a 
kind growing near the Pomeroon quite once as large as 
the last ; its mace is much thicker and in my opinion the 
genuine sort for which I am looking. As for the cinnamon 
which is to come from up the Essequibo YY. HH. saw in the 
beginning of this letter what a Postholder I have there ; he 



1 For further details concerning Tampoco's life and end see p. 585. 

2 See pp. 484 and 499. ^ See p. 506. 



DESPATCHES 523 

has done naught of what was ordered him. Speaking 
generally, Your Honours, I ought to be everywhere in 
person if I want anything done well ; that was easy enough 
some twenty years ago, but now it is very troublesome for 
me. 

I am deeply grateful and obliged to YY. HH. for the 
permission so graciously granted me to pay a visit to 
Europe, which I have so long and cordially desired to do ; 
with heart and soul would I like to profit by that favour in 
the ensuing spring, but, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 
the present state of my health does not allow me to hope 
that I shall be fit to do so. It is possible that during the 
ensuing rainy season God may graciously grant me some 
betterment, but the intense drought which still continues 
has increased my pain so much that everything is a burden 
to me, and even writing, which was always a light and 
pleasant labour for me, is now a task which I can perform 
only with great trouble and many breaks. My two 
daughters being now married I am left almost alone, 
which in my advanced years and ill-health will be ex- 
ceedingly awkward for me. Wherefore I have written to 
my son' by this vessel asking him to return hither, and 
telling him not to fail to call upon YY. HH. before his de- 
parture to hear Your Honours' pleasure and to assure 
YY. HH. of his respect. At the same time I take the liberty 
of commending the youth, concerning whom I get good 
accounts (the Lord be praised), to Your Honours' favour 
and protection. 

These circumstances, in addition to my advanced age, 
bodily ailments and many other reasons compel me to 

^ Jeremias, born (according to family papers) Feb. 2, I74g (ac- 
cording to Rietstap, Op. cit. p. 135, Sept. 2 of that year). He evidently 
did not come back at once for \njune, 1767, Storm recommended him 
to the protection of Bentinck (see p. 589) as he had already done to 
that of the Prince of Orange in Ati^. 1766 (see p. 550). 



524 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

repeat the request I proffered some years ago and to 
implore YY. HH. most earnestly and humbly to be kind 
enough to grant an old servant the favour of releasing him 
from a heavy burden daily becoming more impossible for 
him to bear. As long as the Lord preserves me in life I 
shall never forget the benefits and kindnesses bestowed 
upon me by YY. HH. Although discharged from Your 
Honours' service I shall ever be a faithful and zealous 
servant and a champion of the Company's interests, ever 
ready to use all my efforts in furthering them. I beg and 
entreat YY. HH. to grant me, who have now served for more 
than twenty-nine years, that favour, and not to postpone it 
longer. Once more I say Bis dat qui cito dat, so that I may 
spend the remainder of my days in quietness and peace 
with my children upon the plantation. There should be 
some interval between the affairs of this world and one's 
exit therefrom. 

Further, I take the liberty of begging YY. HH. to grant 
me the same favour as was shown to Mr Spoors and to let 
me keep the ration of meat and flour together with about 
six slaves ; most of those I have are old, worn-out folk of 
no use whatever upon a plantation, among them being 
some who have lived with me since the day I arrived in this 
country and to whom I have got accustomed. 

I ask for no pension, salary or provisions ; that would 
be very unreasonable, for the Honble. Co. has already 
burdens enough without being saddled with such un- 
necessary ones. I would indeed ask for nothing did I not 
require it and were I not convinced of Your Honours' 
goodness towards me. 

I have taken the liberty of addressing a similar and 
most earnest petition by this ship to His Serene Highness^ 



1 William V, Prince of Orange, Hereditary Stadholder of the 
United Provinces and Governor-General of the West India Company. 



DESPATCHES 525 

and to His Highness' Representative, and have asked my 
friends to be good enough to support me therein. 

Notwithstanding this, I shall not lose sight of the voyage 
to Europe if the Lord grant me strength, but would like to 
have obtained my discharge before that and to have been able 
to hand everything over properly to my successor, in which 
case my stay would not necessarily be so limited. My 
children, seeing my helpless state, my incessant work and 
care are also constantly begging me to resign my office and 
to come and live quietly with them. I would like to go 
with honour, yet if it last longer this can scarcely be by 
reason of the amount of worry and opposition I have to 
contend with. To cope therewith properly youth and 
strength are required, but not a worn-out decrepit old 
man. 

Therefore I humbly entreat YY. HH. graciously to per- 
mit me to resign my office and to thank H is Serene Highness 
and YY. HH. for so many favours and benefits received, of 
which I will all my life retain a grateful remembrance, and 
while imploring the Lord's blessing I will, until my suc- 
cessor's arrival, endeavour to do my duty according to my 
means. 

From the accompanying letter from Mr Clarke respecting 
his ship YY. HH. will see what that gentleman's sentiments 
and displeasure are. What will they be now after the 
receipt of my letter informing him of Your Honours' pro- 
hibition to import slaves for his plantations? It would 
grieve me exceedingly if we came to lose so wealthy a 
planter and one so profitable to the Colony, and yet I fear 
it will come to it. I expect further letters from him before 
the departure of this ship. 



526 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

[Inclosure.] 

Barbadoes, 14th Sept., 1766. 
His Excellency L. Storm van 's Gravesande Esq. 

Dear Sir, 

I had the honour to receive your Excellency's Favour 
by Capt. Dobby and by Captain Carberry and am much obliged 
to you for the Intelligence you have given me with Respect to y^ 
Disputes between the different Chambers of the West India Com- 
pany. I am still of opinion with your Excellency that our Colony 
will be soon made free. If not, we nevertheless shall be upon a 
much better footing with Middelburg than heretofore. They talk 
of a Bank of Credit being established for the use of the Colony. 
Is that true? I am afraid it is too good news to be so. However, 
let us always hope for the best. 

I am now to mention a circumstance to your Excellency which 
has given me great concern and which will also be attended with 
great Expence & Inconvenience unless your Excellency will 
comply with my Request. It is to permit the Ship St George 
Capt. Foott to load in the Colony without further Delay. I 
observe what your Excellency says on the subject & therefore to 
make all things easy, I have thought the best way was to purchase 
said Ship and to make a Dutch Bottom of her, which I have done 
from John Haslin Esq. who is attorney for the owners of said 
vessel; and Capt. Foott will present the Bill of Sale to your 
Excellency when he has the honour of waiting upon you. The 
ship therefore is now the Property of Mr Peter de Bruyn of 
Middelburg and myself, and I intreat your Excellency to grant to 
Capt. Foot the necessary Dutch Papers to enable him to pursue 
his Voyage to Middelburg. I will be security for his landing his 
Cargoe at Middelburg and I beg the Favour of your Excellency to 
give him some coffee &c. on freight, and to recommend him to 
your Friends. It is very likely that this ship will be kept in the 
Dimmerary Trade. If not, I shall soon get another to be entirely 
at my disposal, for at present, I find it is a difficult matter to get 
what we want on Board of some ships in y^ trade. 

I recommend Capt. Foot very strenuously to your Excellency, 
because I would not have him delayed longer on any account. 
It has been very expensive already and although the Company has 
forbid any Ships belonging to other Ports than those of Zeeland 



DESPATCHES 527 

from trading to the Colony, yet I presume that was chiefly 
meant to prevent the Ships from Amsterdam and not those wherein 
I & the other Inhabitants were interested. 

Your Excellency will be pleased to observe that I am a Burgher 
of Middelburg as well as of Demerary & therefore I have as good 
a Right to load my Ship in Dimmerary as any man whatever & I 
expect that no Hindrance be given to Capt. Foott. I shall there- 
fore be much obliged to you to give him his necessary Papers as 
soon as possible. 

Such frequent oppositions make it appear as if the whole 
Colony were my Ennemies; and for what cause, they themselves 
cannot tell, nor can I conceive, unless it proceeds from Envy. I 
am however easy about the Matter; but at the same time deter- 
mined, if these Proceedings continue, to draw my Interest out of 
Demerary as soon as possible; for notwithstanding I shall lose 
considerably by it, yet it surely is much better for me to have one 
Half of my Property secured, than to run the Risque of losing the 
whole, and indeed I had better suffer a great deal, than to be 
eternally fatigued with Complaints. 

I beg my best Respects to your good Family & particularly 
to my God-Daughter and am with much Truth & Attachment 

Dear Sir, 

Your Excellency's 

Most obedient hble servant 

Gedney Clarke. 



Both from the point of view of territorial limits and that of 
international law the despatch from which the following 
extracts are taken is one of Storm's best. It contains in 
a very short space a complete bird's-eye view of the way 
in tvhich the Director-General was watching all the 
various boundaries of his colony. Written in a cramped 
hand, and comprising abont 19,000 zvords in tzventy-one 
folio pages, it was commenced, as a side-note shozvs, on 
fanuary 6. 



528 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 473/37 

March 20, 1767. 
(Extracts) 

Concerning the matter of Barima and the case of Rose, 
I have the honour to inform YY. HH. that we, as well as the 
Spaniards, regard the River Barima as the boundary divi- 
sion of the two jurisdictions, the east bank being the 
Company's territory, and the west bank Spanish. 

Fearing, however, because there is a dearth of competent 
and discreet persons, and because the work was getting as 
dangerous for the Spaniards as for us — fearing, I say, that 
my envoy would also come to the west bank, I have in two 
consecutive letters given the Governor of Guayana a cir- 
cumstantial account of the matter, and asked him to send 
some men to help us clear out this nest. 

His Honour did not answer those letters, but sent me a 
verbal message by Vicente Franco, one of the principal 
colonists of Guayana, that it was impossible for him to send 
men on account of the great distance and the lack of boats, 
&c., and that the best thing would be to let those evil-doers 
fight it out. 

Thereupon I sent the Postholder of Moruka my orders, 
being careful to charge him to avoid the Spanish bank but 
not the islands lying in the river, because these were un- 
certain territory. He followed my orders faithfully. Rose 
having been apprehended on our shore. 

I am fully acquainted with the rule. Extra territorium 
suum jus dicenti enim inipune 7ion paretur ; but it is not 
applicable to the Resolution of the Court in this matter, 
because — 

1. The east bank being in our jurisdiction, the Court 
can enforce its order there. 

2. Because I think that the Court certainly has the 
power to forbid its citizens and colonists to go to any places 



DESPATCHES 529 

when such is considered to be inexpedient or dangerous for 
the Colony \ 

The resolution concerning charts of the allotments is 
being carried out and several have already been deposited 
in the Office ; then, as to the title-deeds, for which I get a 
fee of from seven to ten guilders each, I shall, in order that 
the colonists may have no cause for complaint, ask them 
to pay no more for three than for one. I hope the Secretary 
will do the same for his dues, but I doubt it. 

I have no doubt whatever, Your Honours, that this 
Colony will, with the Lord's blessing, equal the most 
flourishing in a few short years. God grant that the 
motto of our commonwealth be better kept in mind — 
Concordia res parvae crescunt'^. 

The war between the Caribs and the Accuways is still 
proceeding, but in a very half-hearted and sluggish manner, 
and there is great probability that it will soon be settled ; 
this would already long have been done if the Postholder 
of Arinda had discharged his duty. 

Having received the various reports of events that had 
occurred during my absence^ I found several matters had 
gone otherwise than they should have done and these will 
cause me a deal of work and worry before I get them right 
again. 

What am I to say, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs ? 
I must speak out and cannot contain myself any longer. 

1 All the above is in reply to the Directors' comments dated 
Sept. 2J, lydd (see Note 2, p. 504). The addition of the second reason 
in the final paragraph was ingenious. 

2 See p. 267. 

3 Storm had been out to sound the channel at the mouth of the 
river where a sandbank had been long forming (see p. 507) ; he 
found that there was still room enough for entering, but that there 
was, as he had feared, difficulty in tacking out. 

v. s. 11. 34 



530 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

I am grieved to my very soul and cannot suppress my 
chagrin when I see and find all my kindness, indulgence 
and courtesy rewarded by the vilest ingratitude, when 
people who, as the whole Colony knows, have nought but 
obligations towards me, seek only to thwart me and to do 
me every possible harm and injury, speaking of me in the 
most malicious way, saying what is true and untrue, and 
not disdaining even the most detestable and palpable 
lies. Mr Spoors has also some very good reasons for com- 
plaint ; he, however, thinks it is but for a short time and 
therefore says little about it, 

I should require some half-dozen sheets of paper if I 
would take the trouble to inform YY. HH. circumstantially 
of these various matters and to unburden my overflowing 
bosom. But having had the honour by " De Sarah " humbly 
to entreat His Serene Highness and YY. HH. for my dis- 
charge 1 will be silent and await my successor with 
impatience. 

In God's name, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, do I 
implore YY. HH. to release Your Honours' old and (as his 
conscience tells him) faithful servant from purgatory. I 
cannot possibly endure it any longer or I shall die of grief. 
Do not. Your Honours, I beg, grudge me a little rest if it 
please the Lord to lengthen my days still a little. I cannot 
possibly hold out any longer and cannot therefore be of any 
use or service to YY. HH. or the Colony. 

O tempora, O mores I may indeed say, but I will leave that 
matter now and weary YY. HH. no more. God grant that 
YY. HH. may find a competent, sensible and steadfast man 
in my place, for otherwise, be he indulgent, especially in 
the beginning, the Colony will soon be ruled in despotic 
manner by minor officials and so turn to chaos. For 
arhongst the burghers there are some not bereft of sense 
who have publicly told me that they were willing to be 
ruled and commanded by a Governor but by no other, and 



DESPATCHES 531 

that they hoped I would not take it amiss if they showed 
their teeth. 

I was very agreeably surprised to see what progress had 
been made with the work at the Fort. Since I entrusted 
Commandant Bakker with its superintendence it has 
advanced so much that everyone who visits it is sur- 
prised ; many, too, who were defaulters in the matter of 
sending their slaves have since the New Year done better 
in view of the Commandant's threats, especially as I allow 
him one half the fines imposed by the Court (the other half 
going to the poor), so that it will soon be finished. They 
are now working at the drawbridge and lock, after which 
the batteries and then the crown-work will be put into order. 
But stones, stones, these are what is wanted, likewise iron, 
there being no more in the smithies. Stones for the crown- 
work will be fetched from the old Fort^ in the punt. 

The newly-arrived surgeon, E. Couzijn, having called 
upon me in Demerara I asked him to go and see Saffon, 
the surveyor, on his way to Essequibo and to examine his 
eyes-. Having done this he reported to me that there was 
some chance of stopping the constant pain but that it was 
quite impossible to restore the sight, since the nervi optici 
were quite corroded or eaten away by the former remedies 
applied and that there was no cure for this. He will send 
me a report in writing. 

Now I shall have the honour to take up the remaining 
unanswered Articles in Your Honours' former letters, so far 
as time will permit me. 

1 Kijkoveral (see p. 474). 

" It is interesting, when one takes into consideration the despond- 
ency shown by Storm in an earlier portion of this very despatch, to 
note the alertness and versatility of his mind — how no detail escapes 
him ; here, for instance, is a wonderful jump from the state of the 
fort batteries to that of the Surveyor's eyes. 

34—2 



532 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

In reply to Your Honours' letter of the 19th June, I 
come first to the Article concerning the Postholders. 

It is certain that we are gradually becoming more aware 
how extremely important this matter is to the service of 
the Honourable Company and the maintenance of the 
Colony. Up to the present I have not had a single one 
that I could call good or even passable, and I have even 
been obliged to send the one from Arinda, who had been 
under arrest in the Fort here for about four weeks, back to 
the Post, not having been able to find a proper person to 
send in his place, notwithstanding that I made inquiries on 
all sides. The mulattoes of this country, who, understand- 
ing the languages, would be the most fit, are much too lazy; 
they are, moreover, unwilling to submit to the least form of 
subjection, and having not the slightest ambition nor any 
desire for money, nothing is to be done with them, so that, 
as I have no good soldiers, I can find no remedy for this. 

Your Honours' prophecy concerning the Indian spy 
from the Spaniards was a perfectly correct one, because the 
man has really managed to escape. But he could not have 
been kept a prisoner for ever, and the Post in Cuyuni now 
being re-established it does not matter so much. 

It is unfortunate that the Postholder there has had to 
pay the usual toll exacted from all who go there for the first 
time, he having had a severe illness from which he has not 
yet quite recovered. 

For the reasons given in my former letters I have not 
yet sent him any soldiers, but two assistants who are 
acquainted with the Indian languages. I hear that the 
dwellings are constructed, and large bread-gardens are 
planted ; this work is being daily continued, and the 
Indians are beginning to come in slowly. 



DESPATCHES 533 

Passing now to Your Honours' letter of the 8th Septem- 
ber\ there is still left for me to answer : 

Firstly, concerning the Pyramids. Up to the present it 
has been impossible for me to get anyone upon whom I can 
in any way rely in order to make a careful inspection and 
description of the same, however much I may desire and 
long to have it done, never having lost that object out of my 
sight, as being one by which indeed some discoveries of the 
greatest importance to the learned world might be made. 
There are no nations known in antiquity besides the two^ 
mentioned by YY. HH. who have made their work of such 
constructions, and it not being possible to suppose that any 
colonies of the same ever by any chance came this way, 
such increases curiosity very much. 

With regard to the Phoenicians and Carthaginians it is 
by no means so improbable that they came to South 
America^; those people are known to have sent out 
colonies far and wide, as navigation went in those days, 
and it may well be that some of their ships being driven 
away from land and far out to sea by a storm, got caught 

^ See p. 502, Note 2. ^ Tj^e Egyptians and the Chinese. 

^ It is of course a well-known fact that many theories have been 
put forward concerning pre-Columbian discoveries of America, mostly 
ascribed to Northmen. We quote at random but a few works of 
n.odern times on the subject. 

Anderson (R. B.), America not discovered by Columbus, pp. 164. 
Chicago, i88j. [With a bibliography.] 

Vining (E. P.), An inglorious Columbus j evidence that Hwui 
Shan discovered America, pp. 788. New York, 188^. 

Brown ( M. A.), Icelandic discoverers of America, pp. 2 1 3. London, 
1887. 

De Costa (B. F.), Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by North- 
tnen. pp. 196. Albany, rSgo. 

Horsford (E. N.), The La}idfall of Leif Erikson.,A.D. 1000. pp. 148. 
Boston, i8g3. 

Stephens (T.), Discovery of America by Madoc ap Owen Gwynedd 
in the 12th century, pp. 249. London, i8gj. 

Neukomm (E.), Les Dompteurs de la Mer. Les Normands en 
Amerique depuis le X^ jusqu^au XV^ sikle. pp. 295. Paris, iSgj. 



534 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

in the trade winds and were compelled to go on, when they 
must necessarily have reached these shores^ 

I feel strengthened in this idea by the fact that in 
certain places between Demerara and Essequibo I have 
myself found (upon the indications of Indians) many frag- 
ments of tiles, baked stone, iron-work, mortars and vices, 
together with other stone instruments of an entirely different 
make and composition than those of to-day and the use of 
which was totally unknown to our Indians, who could give 
no information whatever about them". I have myself taken 
the spade and pick-axe in hand, dug many out and sent 
them to Professor Allamand^ at Leiden^, and according to 
the Indians there are many places where much more could 
be found. No one will be so stupid as to imagine that 
these things have grown there but to know how and by 
whom they were brought hoc opus hie labor est. But I am 
like to lose myself in a dissertation and abuse Your Honours' 
attention. 

I do not think there is any gold or silver under or near 
those pyramids, but they are called by the same name 
amongst the Indians as those places where those metals 



^ The Directors' reply, dated August 24, lydy, ran : — 

" The judicious reflections communicated to us regarding the 
founders of the pyramids in question are so many proofs of your 
famiharity with ancient history, and if there is any means of making 
further discoveries about them or of obtaining accurate drawings of 
their situation, size, structure, and other outward features, such would 
be particularly agreeable to us, and we are disposed to hope for the 
same from your sagacity." 

^ It will prove interesting to read in connection with this subject 
im Thurn's remarks on Indian antiquities and especially on shell- 
mounds or "kitchen-middens" {Among the Indians of Guiana., 
pp. 389-428). 

3 See pp. 370, 371. 

* A search, kindly instituted by Professor J. M. Janse, of Leiden, 
has failed to lead to the discovery of any of these remains in the 
Ethnographical Museum of that town, where, as the Professor says, 
they "should have been." 



DESPATCHES 535 

are found, to wit, that the Javvaho, that is, Satan, has his 
dwelling-place there. 

And that there are rich mines of those metals in that 
district, and especially in Cuyuni, I believe to be as certain 
as my own existence, and I think that my reasons for such 
belief are well-grounded. 

I shall try to get a good honest interpreter, and having 
found such an one will bind him by oath. 

I can rely upon the assistance of the Caribs in case we 
have to meet violence with violence, but so long as circum- 
stances demand soft measures they are no earthly use to 
me, their hatred against the Spaniards being deep-rooted 
and great. 

Thank God, things are progressing exceedingly well in 
Demerara; Mr Spoors, being recently there, was greatly 
surprised to see the changes for the better which had been 
made since his last visit. Of all products I see none so 
promising and of such astonishing success as the cocoa in 
the boggy soil. This was tried in the low grounds upon the 
advice of some Spaniards ; a few thousand shrubs about a 
hand's breadth high which I had planted at "Soestdijk" 
last July I now found to be over three feet high and many 
already developing crowns. It is the same with Ruysch, 
van der Lott and others who took up this product and are 
now beginning to gather the fruit. One cocoa tree, six 
years old, that I had planted in the bog soil as an experi- 
ment, yielded last July 160 burrs\ Cotton would do ex- 
ceedingly well if the seasons were somewhat more regular. 

1 Betirsen in the original. Though Murray's New English Dic- 
tionary would have burr (or bur) to signify something rough or 
prickly, it does not profess to give the derivation of the term with 
any certainty. The cocoa pod or husk, in which from 30 to 40 of the 
beans are found, is neither prickly nor very rough, yet it may well be 
that our English word btirr is directly derived from or is cognate with 
the Dutch beurs, commonly meaning a purse ; in any case, this seems 



536 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

By the weather that we have now had for the past four 
weeks or so all the ripe cotton on the trees has been 
ruined.... 

Eight English barques are now lying off the Fort and 
three in Demerara, so that there is at present no lack of 
either horses or provisions; within about three weeks more 
than 120 horses have been sold and 32 more are being 
offered for sale. Three ships in addition to the above 
make a fine sight and I have never seen the harbour so full 
before.... 

After apologizing for having omitted to advise the Directors 
concerning a bill of exchange draivn at a very busy 
moment Storm goes on to say : — 

It is impossible for YY. HH. to comprehend how 
manifold my duties are becoming ; it is really marvellous 
that I do not forget half of them. YY. HH. have seen that 
the Court of Justice refuses to sit in my absence. Its next 
meeting is on February 2 and we shall be unable to get 
through the work already on the agenda in less than three 
days, and the parties to all those matters come to me 
previously to discuss them ; this is necessary in order to 
give me a clear idea of everything and saves the Court 
much time. 

The " Spoor " will not depart for quite another fort- 
night though she would already have done so were she not 
waiting for the coffee, which cannot be washed in this 
rainy weather. Before she goes I ought to make out. 

The Register for the year 1766. 

The rations list. 

The draft concerning acreage dues. 

The list I am making of produce sent over in the above 



a fitting opportunity to apply it to the cocoa pod, for which there 
appears to be no generally-accepted lay designation. . 



DESPATCHES 537 

year, which I have deemed necessary for reasons I hope to 
have the honour to give when I have finished it. 

The Hst of the Company's servants. 

All these are things which I must do myself if I want 
them well and properly done. And then there are the 
requisitions, &c., which I must go through carefully, as well 
as the lists of slave rations and many other matters ; every- 
thing must go through my hands and I cannot trust others 
to do the least thing. In addition to this the inventories 
are still to be taken, these requiring at least a whole week. 

Kindly consider, YY. HH., whether I have not to have 
my wits about me and whether it is to be wondered at if I 
occasionally forget something... 

On account of all this work I was not able to go to 
church this morning, though I was already dressed for it 
and should have liked to go, especially as Dominie Lingius, 
who continues to give great satisfaction, has come from 
Demerara to preach. 

Your Honours' creole, Tampoko, has come down the 
river to-day according to my instructions, and has reported 
to me that the Postholder at Cuyuni was fairly well again, 
that the Capucine of the Mission close to the river was 
daily engaged in inciting the Acuways and the Caribs 
against each other, and that in this way he was spreading 
trouble throughout the river. The creole made me laugh 
by saying, "If my lord and master gives me orders to do 
so, I will bring the priest here to the Fort within three 
weeks, bound hand and foot," and I really believe he would 
do it. 

I told him that he must be very careful not to undertake 
the least thing against the Mission, but that he must keep 
a watchful eye upon all the doings of the Spaniards, and 
expressly forbid the Caribs, in my name, to molest our 
Acuway subjects. All of which he promised to do. 



538 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

My mind having been turned towards obtaining some 

proper basis for the assessment of taxes I compiled a Hst of 

the produce exported in the year 1766 and found it to be as 

follows : — 

3753 hhds of sugar, 

343 ^-hhds of sugar, 

2186 bags of coffee, 

51 casks of coffee, 

87 bales of cotton, 

49 casks of annatto dye, 

7 bags of cocoa, 

without enumerating kiltum, lemon-juice, tobacco, &c. 

Permit me, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, to end 
this despatch with the words with which my highly 
esteemed friend, Mr J. J. Mauricius, concluded his speech 
before the Directors of the Society of Surinam\ in so far as 

^ Jan Jacob Mauricius was born at Amsterdam May 3^ i6q2. A 
remarkably precocious child, he preached before a congregation of 
hundreds of people at the age of six and a half, entered Leiden 
University at 13 and took his doctor's degree in law in his sixteenth 
year. A deputy of the States of Holland and West Friesland, a 
pensiotiaris ad vitai/i and burgomaster, he was in 172J sent as 
Resident to Hamburg to represent the Netherlands in the Circle 
of Lower Saxony ; in lyjj his title was raised to that of Minister 
and his salary to 6000 guilders. In 1742 the Chartered Company 
of Surinam offered him the governorship of that colony ; in that 
post he spent nine miserable years, a victim of cabals and intrigues, 
and then returning home was forced to undergo a trial from which he 
issued victoriously. It was on Aug. /, //JJ, that he delivered the 
memorable speech from which Storm quotes. Two years later he 
was sent to Hamburg for the second time as Netherlands Minister. 

The literary talents of the man were as eminent and varied as his 
career — a full list of his prose and poetical works (the former being 
largely composed of treatises on history, law, the drama and geo- 
graphical matters) is given in Van der Aa,Biographisch Woordenboek. 
A collation of Storm's extract from Mauricius' speech with the version 
published by C. A. van Sijpestein in his life of the Surinam Governor 
shows the wording to be fairly though not absolutely identical- 
Storm was probably quoting from a MS. copy or from one subse- 



DESPATCHES 539 

they are applicable to my condition, and inasmuch as they 
correspond precisely with the feelings of my heart and soul. 

I may say with His Honour, " Sat P atria Priamoque 
datum^, and there is naught left for me but to praise God 
on my bended knees and to thank Him that having led 
me since my youth He has not abandoned me in my old 
age ; that He has not only continually shielded me from 
the many dangers of sea, of sickness and of evil men, but 
has also supported my mind and strength that these did 
not fail under the burden and the vexations whereby I was 
oppressed and provoked. 

" Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, after God it is 
YY. HH. whom I have most respectfully to thank for all 
the benefits which YY. HH. have conferred upon me and 
mine. 

" Let me be permitted. Your Honours, on this occasion to 
recommend myself and mine to Your Honours' protection 
and though YY. HH. are on the point of discharging me 
from the Company's service I pray that YY. HH. may 
always maintain me in that favour with which YY. HH. 



quently slightly improved. In the same booklet {Jan Jacob Mauricius, 
Gouverneur-Generaal van ^uritiame...^s Gravenhage, /i?5<?, pp. I75) 
we are reminded of the fact that it was to Governor Mauricius that 
La Condamine, after having vainly waited five months at Cayenne for 
a ship, was indebted for his passage home in 1744 : the incident is 
recorded in his Relation dun voyage dans fAtnerique (Paris, 1743, 
p. 212), where he speaks of "la r^ponse extremement polie que je 
requs de M. Mauricius, Gouverneur de la Colonie HoUandoise de 
Surinam ; 11 m'ofifroit sa maison a Surinam, le choix d'un embarque- 
ment pour la Hollande, et un passeport meme en cas de rupture 
entre la France et les Etats Gdneraux." The explorer reached 
Paramaribo on Attg. 28, I744i was well entertained by the Governor 
and set out on Sept. 2 for Europe ; but the chiefest interest to us of 
all this is that he carried amongst his papers whilst visiting Storm's 
friend the fragmentary diary of Storm's emissary, Horstman, which 
was 150 years later to be used as evidence of the first importance in 
determining the boundaries of British Guiana (see pp. 61, 62 and 

167-174)- 

1 Virgil, /En. ii. 291. 



540 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDES 

have been pleased to honour me. On my side, although 
about to lose the title of Director- General of Essequibo, I 
shall always be in name and deed Your Honours' grateful, 
zealous and faithful servant, and when with my pen, with 
my lips or with my whole person I can ever be of any 
service to YY, HH. I shall always consider it a duty and a 
great honour to give YY. HH. proofs of my profound respect 
and of my true and sincere gratitude. And as long as 
there is a drop of blood in my veins I shall never cease 
to pray God that He may shower blessings upon Your 
Honours' persons and honoured families, that He may 
make Your Honours' rule happy and steadfast and let the 
Colony flourish and thrive under Your Honours' sway." 

These, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, are my 
sincere wishes. I have now had the honour of serving 
YY. HH. more than nine-and-twenty years and have en- 
deavoured to use the means given me by the Almighty as 
far as possible for the service of the Honble Co. and the 
interests of the Colony, but Homo sum et nihil hmnani a me 
alienum puto^, and it being Juimanum errare it cannot well 
be otherwise than that in so long a service and with so 
much opposition I have occasionally made mistakes, for 
which I humbly ask Your Honours' pardon. I console 
myself with an easy conscience that those mistakes were 
never made with evil intent and that I was never unwilling 
to remedy them when brought to my notice, for it being 
humanimi errare, it is angelicum resipiscere, diabolicum 
perseverare. 



^ Homo Slim; humani nihil a me alienum puto. Terence, Heau- 
ton Timorumenos, I. i. 



DESPATCHES 54I 

P.R.O. 473/50 

March 23, 1767. 
(Extract) 

I am anxious to have some tidings from Cuyuni, because 
I received a note from the manager van der Heyde yesterday 
in which he informs me that the Creole, Tampoko, had been 
to see his son at " Old Duynenburg," and had reported that 
he had heard from a few Indians that a party of Indians 
had been sent by the Spanish Mission to make a raid upon 
the Post, and had completely sacked it, and that he was 
eroinp; to find out how true that was. That Post is a 
terrible eyesore to the Spaniards and there is no doubt 
that it stands in the way of their attaining some important 
aims. As soon as I have reliable tidings I shall deliberate 
with the Court what is to be done in the matter. 



P.R.O. 473/51 

March 27, 1767. 
(Extracts) 

Therefore (may it please YY. HH. not to take it amiss 
that I express myself so frankly — the importance of the 
matter forces me to it), if it is desired to prevent the ruin 
of the Colony, the three following points should be taken 
into serious consideration and be put into effect as soon as 
possible : — 

1. To insist with the Court of Spain upon redress for 
the grievances, and to ask there for measures to make those 
in command obey the orders of His Catholic Majesty, for 
they really laugh at them. 

2. Two good, armed, and well-manned coast-guards, 
one in the mouth and one outside the river, to put an end 
to all the desertions. 



542 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

3. The fortifying of Demerara, in order that nothing 
go out of that river without being seen. 

And if no redress can be obtained at the Court of 
Spain, to use reprisals against the Missions, situated on 
our frontier, even on our territory ; I think they would 
then be brought to reason. 

This is concisely what I think it my duty to propose to 
YY. HH. 

A starving beggar cannot long for a crust of bread as I 
long for the arrival of my successor. Though it is perfectly 
impossible for me to think of and to do everything it is, 
however, my unshirkable duty to see after and to care for 
all. That Your Honours' commands are executed ; that 
the works go on properly ; that the Colony is kept in 
order and that its growth and progress are advanced ; that 
all accidents and misfortunes are prevented as far as possible, 
or unavoidably occurring, are remedied ; that Your Honours' 
plantations and servants are kept in good order and that 
the latter get their due ; that the soldiery is kept in proper 
discipline but at the same time gently treated, not oppressed 
or cheated, as too often happens — in a word, everything 
rests upon my shoulders and did I not have a Commander 
in Demerara^ and a Commandant- here upon whom I can 
trust I would be in misery and could not possibly go on. 
Some may think that I speak of these two in that way 
because they are my sons-in-law, but I have the honour to 
assure YY. HH. that even if they were my sons I would not 
spare them in the least if they deserved blame. 



1 J. C. van den Heuvel (cf. p. 597). 
^ Johannes Bakker. 



DESPATCHES 543 

P.R.O. 473/53 

April 21, 1767. 

(Extracts) 

How hard it is, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, how 
hard, I say, that I, who always strove with heart and soul 
to promote union and harmony, used every possible in- 
dulgence, always neglected my own interests to further 
those of peace and tranquillity, should, in the last days of 
my administration, be involved in such a chaos of con- 
fusion, and plainly see and experience that those who 
always appeared to be my best friends were in reality my 
bitterest enemies and calumniators. As far as concerns 
myself personally or my office I would care little for all 
this barking and take no note thereof, for Mens sibi conscia 
recti^ has no need to fear calumny. 

Jiistiim ac tetiaceni propositi viriim 
Non civium ardor prava jiibentium 
Non viiltus instantis tiranni 
Mente qiiatit solida-. 

But now that downright disobedience reigns and the 
most infamous libels are circulated, and all this publicly, 
I, as well as Mr Spoors, will be compelled to do what I 
never have done, that is, to play the Fiscal's part in all its 
rigour; an example must certainly be made to serve as a 
deterrent to others. This, too, will be of great advantage 
to my successor, for he will immediately be able to see 
with what sort of people he will have to deal. 

For some time past I have felt very unwell. Age 
brings many infirmities. I intend, God willing, to go to 

^ Virgil, y£";/. i. 604. ^ Horace, Odes, ill. iii. 



544 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Demerara immediately after the conclusion of the next 
Court meeting (which I fear will last a full week) and 
there await Your Honours' esteemed reply to my letters 
by " De Sarah," skipper F. Barker, which departed on the 
4th of January last, in order to act in accordance therewith. 

When there I hope to make an effort to see whether I 
can get the burghers to agree to the proposition I have 
made for fortifying that river, building the church, &c. 
I have however reason to fear that I shall not be successful, 
especially as my opponents have the dominie on their side. 

To what chagrin and difficulties is not he exposed who 
occupies any important office ! It is true that it always 
has been so all the world over and will probably remain so, 
but it is misery to the sufferers ; they have need of great 
strength of mind and of the special support of Providence 
in order not to succumb. Truly, Noble and Right Honour- 
able Sirs, I might say with Moliere's Misanthrope : — 

Trahi de toutes parts, accable d' injustices, 
Je vais sortir d'uu gouffre ok triomphent les vices 
A cJiercher sur la terre un inorceau ecarte 
Oil d'etre homine d'honneur on ait la liberie^. 

I hope that the Gracious Ruler of All will in His 
mercy grant that 1 may spend the little life that is left 
me in peace and quietness, untrammelled by the cares of 
office, and that He may have moved the hearts of His 
Serene Highness and of YY. HH. graciously to accord me the 
request I made by " De Sarah " and subsequently repeated. 



^ Act. V. Sc. 4. The third hne should read 

Et chercher sur la terrc tin endroit ecarte. 
This is pretty good evidence that Storm quoted from memory only. 



DESPATCHES 545 

p.R.O. 473/59 

Demerara, June 27, 1767. 
(Extract) 

Mr Spoors sent me word in writing that the Spanish 
deserters have arrived in Essequibo, and that there is a 
sergeant among them. They give the harsh treatment of 
the new Governor as a reason for deserting. I immediately- 
answered him saying that I wished them to be sent out of 
the Colony at the first opportunity, for I do not know 
what there may be behind this ; I do not trust the whole 
business, especially since commerce with Orinoco is entirely 
stopped, and even the fishery is absolutely at a standstill, 
which has never happened before, and which is exceedingly 
embarrassing to Your Honours' plantations and to the 
whole Colony. 

At the same time I received a report from the Post in 
Cuyuni that the Indians are being bribed and incited to 
such a degree that they are unwilling to do the least thing 
for the Postholder, and that when he orders them to go 
alongside the passing boats to see whether there are any 
runaways in them they obstinately refuse to do so, and 
when he threatens to shoot upon them they reply that they 
have bows and arrows with which to answer. 

The fortification of these two Posts, Cuyuni and Moruka, 
becoming a matter of greater necessity every day (there 
being, indeed, periaihiin in mora), I hope that some good 
soldiers, and especially Protestants, will be sent by the 
" Laurens en Maria^" 



1 The usual unsatisfactory (and in this case really incredible) reply 
of the Directors, dated Sept. 21, 1767, ran : — 

" We hope that you will have found means of frustrating the evil 

designs of the Spaniards against the Post in Cuyuni ; and, however 

persuaded of the necessity of strengthening both that Post and the 

one in Moruka, we have, nevertheless, been unable to send by this 

v.S. II. 35 



54^ STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 473/63 

Demerara, June 27, 1767. 

P.S.^ Just after signing this I receive by an express 
messenger from Commandant Bakker the painful tidings 
that Mr N. Rousselet de la Jarie died between 4 and 5 
o'clock on the afternoon of the 24th inst." Noble and 
Right Honourable Sirs, what confusion this will cause ! 
What work for me ! I am terrified to think of it. I have 
immediately written back to have the office kept in proper 
order. 



ship a greater number of soldiers, having had trouble enough to find 
available ship-room for these few. 

By a subsequent ship we shall again try to send some good soldiers, 
and, as we informed you in our ample missive, to continue doing so 
from time to time until the garrison shall reach its full quota of fifty 
men, and be in proper order." 

A further reply, dated Nov. 28, iy68, ran : — 

" Against the desertion of the slaves from the Colony to Orinoco 
we also know no other means of provision than the projected coast- 
guards, concerning which we have more than once expressed ourselves. 
We have repeatedly instructed our Deputies in the Assembly of Ten 
to propose there that the States-General be again urged to have 
emphatic representations made to the Court of Spain for restitution 
of the slaves who run away from Curagao to the coasts of Cora and 
from Essequibo to Orinoco ; but, no report having yet been made 
thereof, we cannot as yet inform you of the result. In the meanwhile, 
the measures which have been taken, of letting no slaves pass \yithout 
permits from their masters, and of encouraging the free Indians to 
bring in the runaways, are, to be sure, in themselves very good, if 
carried out, but still it seems to us that they are in no way sufficient 
effectively to hinder and stop the runaways, and, if you mean to do 
things properly, it will be necessary to determine, and the sooner the 
better, upon the purchase and retention of the aforesaid coast-guards." 

1 This is not a postscript to the preceding despatch, but to another 
of the same date. 

2 Nicolas Rousselet de la Jarie was appointed StcreidLiy ad interiin 
upon the failure of Spoors' sight in 1764 (see p. 483) and his appoint- 
ment was later made absolute when Spoors' resignation was accepted. 
In Ai(g7isf, 1766, he proceeded to the Orinoco on a mission respecting 
the restitution of fugitive slaves (see p. 509) but returned the next 



DESPATCHES 547 

P.R.O. 473/71 

Demerara, July 24, 1767. 
(Extracts) 

The letter-bag of " De Jonge Jan " closes to-day and in 
a fortnight's time that of " Het Land Canaan," so that 
although I am scarcely able to write for half-an-hour at a 
stretch I am obliged to take up the pen in order to acquit 
myself of my task as far as possible. I am very weak and 
suffering intolerable pain, sleepless all night long and, unless 
the Lord graciously better it, unable to bear up longer. 

Among many other insolent utterances the aforemen- 
tioned Richter^ said " The Colony desires perforce to be 
under Amsterdam and the two chiefs " — meaning the 
Commander and myself — " are ever striving and contriving 
to make it so^" 

Although I am perfectly certain that YY. HH. and all 
in Zeeland who know me are convinced of the contrary, 
whereof I gave abundant proofs when in Europe and sub- 
sequently, and of which I have complete proof still in 
hand, such a calumny grieves me to the soul. And since 
I understand that to bolster it up use is being made of the 
letter, dated November 26, with which His Serene Highness 
graciously honoured me in reply to mine of August 12 I 
take the liberty of sending YY, HH. herewith a copy of my 

month with an unsatisfactory reply (see p. 510). His widow appears 
to have acted in a somewhat truculent manner (m many instances 
recorded by Storm but not reproduced in this work) ; we ought, 
however, to be grateful to her for having drawn from the Director- 
General that one expression (see p. 624) savouring more of a Schopen- 
hauer than of a pope. 

1 Manager of the Company's plantation "Duynenburg" and there- 
fore one of Storm's subordinates. 

2 Referring to the dispute between the Chambers, for particulars of 
which see pp. 143-145. 

35—2 



548 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

letter and the duplicate of the answer I received by " De 
Laurens en Maria." 

I have received a Report from the Postholder of Maroco 
that on account of the bad treatment received at the hands 
of the present Governor of Orinoco, all the Warouws, 
thousands of whom live on the islands in the mouth of 
Orinoco ^ are fleeing from there, and that hundreds of 
them have already arrived in Barima. Our fishery is 
therefore knocked on the head for some time, unless that 
tribe should resolve to exchange blow for blow ; they are 
numerous enough to do so, but courage fails them, for of 
all the tribes known to us it is the one which is most afraid 
of fire-arms. 



Inclosure I.] 

[Essequibo, August 12, 1766^] 
Monseigneur, 

Le temps sy longtemps desire etant enfin arrive 
ou nous jouyssons de bonheur de voir Votre Altesse Sere- 
nissime a la tete de notre Republique'', j'espere que V. A. S. 
voudra bien excuser la liberte que je prends de feliciter 
V. A. S. a son heureux avenement au Gouvernement priant 
le Tout Puissant de vouloir combler V. A. S. de ses plus 



1 See p. 343. 

2 The copy bears no date or signature, but the former is given in 
Storm's covering letter to the Directors, p. 547. Neither is it in 
Storm's handwriting, and the errors may possibly have to be attributed 
to the copyist. 

^ William V, Prince of Orange, was born March 8, 1748. His 
succession to the Stadholdership of the United Provinces followed, as 
a matter of course, upon the attainment of his majority at the age 
of 18. Like his father, he became Governor-General of the West 
India Company, and we see that Storm lost little time in addressing 
him direct in that capacity. 



DESPATCHES 549 

precieuses Benedictions de Lui accorder un Gouvernement 
long et heureux de benir tous ses desseins et entreprises, 
une sante parfaite et les forces necessaires pour ces grands 
et penibles emploijs et contentement le plus parfait. 

Les termes me manquent pour exprimer a Votre Altesse 
Ser^nissime les vceux sinceres que je fais au Tout Puissant 
pour le bonheur et la conservation de V. A. S. attache depuis 
I'age de raison inviolablement a I'lllustre Maison a laquelle 
Notre Republique doit son etre et sa conservation, honore 
de la protection et bienveillance de Feu Leurs Altesse 
Serenissime et Royale Pere et Mere de V. A. S. dont j'ay 
eu le bonheur de recevoir tout marques et dont le Souvenir 
me fait encore couler les larmes des yeux je serais le plus 
ingrat des hommes si mes vceux les plus ardents et les plus 
sinceres n'etoient point pour le bonheur de Votre Altesse 
Serenissime. 

C'est ce qui met le comble a notre satisfaction est la 
nouvelle req:ue par Barbade que nous avons aussi le bonheur 
d'avoir Votre Altesse Serenissime a la tete de la Compagnie 
des Indes Occidentales. Permettez moy, Monseigneur, de 
prendre la liberte de recommander particulierement a 
V. A. S. cet Colonie et principalement notre Rivier de 
Demerary qui n'etant que dans son enfance a besoin d'une 
protection puissante. Commence en I'annee 1746^ j'ay le 
plaisir de voir que nonobstant mille traverses et tous les 
efforts qu'on a fait pour empecher son accroissement d'y 
voir a present passe cent plantages qui avancent journelle- 
ment, la ou son ancienne Essequebo n'en a qu'un peu plus 
de soixante que seroit ce si elle avait recu le moindre 
encouragement ? Daignez, Monseigneur, de la prendre 



1 This refers only to the allotment of plantations ; there had been 
a Company's post or trading-place there long prior to that date (cf. 
p. 217). 



550 STORM VAN 'S GRAVES ANDE'S 

SOUS Votre Protection les voeux de tous les habitans sans 
exception ont 6t6 depuis bien longtemps de voir I'evene- 
ment du present et leur joye ne pouvoit etre plus eclatante 
qu'elle n'a ete a la reception de cette heureuse nouvelle. 

Permettez moy, Monseigneur, que je profite de cette 
occasion pour prendre la liberte de recommander tres 
humblement en la protection et bonnes graces de Votre 
Altesse Serenissime ma personne et celle d'un fils unique^ 
reste de sept, qui est presentement en Europe pour son 
education ; I'aine^ de ces sept freres a ete nomme a I'age 
[de] 1 8 ans* par une grace de bonte singuliere de Feu Son 
Altesse Serenissime, pour premier Commandeur de Deme- 
rarij en I'annee 1750 ; il n'a pas joui longtemps de cette 
grace. 

J 'ay a present I'honneur d'avoir servi la Compagnie 
passe vingt-huit annees avec des gages modiques, que je ne 
suis guerre plus riche qu'a mon arrivee dans ce pays ayant 
toujours en pour une regie inviolable dans mes actions de 
preferer en toute occasion les interests de la Compagnie et 
de la Colonic a mes interests particuliers, toute mon am- 
bition n'a ete dirigee qu'a m'acquitter fidellement de mon 
devoir, 

Mon age avance presentement ne m'en laisse point 
d'autre que de finir mon long service avec honneur de 
passer le peu de temps qu'il plaira au Tout-Puissant de 
m'accorder encore en repose et de voir ce cher fils place et 
en etat de subsister avant mon depart de ce monde. 

Mais je ne m'apper^ois pas que j'abus d'un temps 
precieux et de la patience de Votre Altesse Serenissime ; 
ainsi je finis en prenant encore une fois la liberty d'assurer 

1 Jeremias, born in /74Q. Cf. pp. 45, 523 and 589. 

2 Jonathan Samuel. 

^ A singular error, for Jonathan was born jo Noik^ 1728, and was 
therefore in his twenty-second year when appointed Commander. 



DESPATCHES 551 

Votre Altesse Serenissime que personne au monde ne peut 
etre avec un plus profond respect, 
Monseigneur, 
De Votre Altesse Serenissime 

Le tres humble et tres ob^issant serviteur. 



[Inclosure IP.] 

Duplicat. 

A Monsieur 

Monsieur Storm de 's Gravezande, 

Directeur General des Colonies de 
Rio Essequebo et Demerary. 

Monsieur, 

La lettre que vous m'avez adressee le 12^ aout dernier, 
qui caracterise la bonte de votre coeur, votre attachement a tous 
vos devoirs, et vos bons sentimens pour moi et pour ma Maison,' 
m'a fait grand plaisir. J'y vois surtout avec satisfaction que vos 
soins ont e'te suivis de succes k Demerary, et j'y reconnais la 
fidelite de vos services. Soyez persuade, Monsieur, que rien ne 
pourra m'etre plus agre'able que de contribuer a la prosperite de 
la Colonic, dont la direction vous a e'te confiee, et que je me 
ferai pareillement un plaisir de donner en terns et lieux a votre 
fils des preuves de I'estime que j'ai pour son Pere, et avec laquelle 
je suis sincerement. 

Monsieur 

Tres affectionne' a vous servir 

W. Pr. v. Orange. 

La Haie ce 26^ Novemb. 
1766. 



1 It must have cost Storm a pang or two to part with this letter, 
which, although a duplicate, bears the autograph of the Stadholder. 



552 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

p.R.o. 473/79 

August lo, 1767. 
(Extract) 

A few Caribs, having come down from Upper Essequibo, 
have reported to Diderik Nelis, living up near the planta- 
tion " Oosterbeek," that there is neither Postholder nor 
assistant to be found at Post Arinda, and that they have 
not been seen for fourteen days ; that the house is half 
ruined and the warehouse broken open and empty, and 
that they could not say whether the men had been murdered 
or had run away. 

Nelis immediately gave notice of this at the Fort, and 
I have ordered someone to go up there and make inquiries 
into the matter. 

I cannot believe that they were murdered, because these 
two men were kindness itself, and never offended any 
Indian, unless it be that the deed was done by a savage 
tribe from the interior ; but then the latter would have 
been discovered in their march by the Caribs, who live in 
such great numbers round about there, unless it was done 
by those scoundrels themselves in order to get rid of their 
debts and obtain possession of the goods. 



P.R.O. 473/90 

September 6, 1767. 
(Extracts) 

We lose a great deal in E. Athing^ who was an honest 
upright man. Perfectly acquainted with the Indian 
languages and having the uppermost plantation, he was 
as good as a Postholder, and faithfully reported all that 
took place amongst the Indians and especially amongst 
the Acuways living up in Demerary — a quarrelsome tribe 
which will not endure the least injustice and which is 
continually at war with the Caribs.... The upper reaches of 

^ A planter whose death Storm had just reported. 



DESPATCHES 553 

that river are now quite undefended, which I fear will lead 
to many differences with the Acuways. 

An experience of many years has made me only too 
well acquainted with the Spaniards, and being convinced 
that not the least reliance is to be placed either upon their 
most solemn promises or even upon their oaths, I place no 
trust in them at all. Far be it from me to impute such 
evil sentiments or such infidelity to the Spanish nation as 
a whole ; on the contrary I believe that honest, upright 
people are to be found amongst them as amongst other 
nations ; such are, however, but thinly sown in Europe and 
America. 

Their Governors, who exercise an absolutely despotic 
power in these parts, are only appointed for three or at 
most for five years, a period which they employ in scraping 
together as much money as possible /^ry^j and nefas, and 
in oppressing and plundering the colonists in every way in 
order that when their term of office has expired and two 
inquisitors are sent with their successor by the Supreme 
Council to inquire into their conduct and to receive the 
complaints which every citizen is then free to make, they 
may be able to fill the hands of these officials and still 
have something left for themselves, in which case, be the 
complaints what they will, they themselves will come out 
white as snow, though, if they have not anything, they are 
sent in chains to Spain. 

The red slaves are ostensibly set free on arriving there, 
but are compelled to stay at the Missions where they have 
to do more work than with us. The black slaves are sold, 
and the proceeds are said to go to the Royal Treasury, 
but that His Catholic Majesty sees much of them Jioc 
credat judcsus Apella 7ioii ego. 

The last Governor of Orinoco was sharper. Having 
held office for about three years only, and having probably 



554 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

been unable to scrape enough together in that short time 
he did not wait for the inquiry, but as soon as he heard 
that his successor was on the way he took possession of a 
barque that happened to be there, and placing in it all his 
property he made off, taking with him more than thirty of 
our runaway slaves ; his destination is still unknown. 

And really the necessity for adopting preventive 
measures is daily getting greater. There has again been 
cause for alarm upon Your Honours' plantation " Achte- 
kerke," and on the 9th of August we discovered that upon 
our plantation, " Soestdijk\" another plot had been formed 
by about twenty slaves to run away to Orinoco. 

This, too, is a plantation upon which the slaves are 
treated exceptionally well ; their rations never fail for a 
single day, and they are never flogged except for most 
serious offences. 

A great number, too, are missing here in Demerary, of 
whom it is not known whether they have gone into the 
bush or to Orinoco. 

Last week the Arruwaks of Maheyka brought back 
two negroes who had run away from the plantation " Nieuw 
Amsterdam"; we at once rewarded them richly and treated 
them well to kiltum. 

It is certain that the colonists themselves are greatly to 
blame for the numerous desertions. The Court has more 
than once issued orders that no one should send out slaves 
from their plantations without a pass from their master, 
and everyone has been charged to ask any slaves they see 
on the river for their pass, and to bring them to the Fort in 
case they have none. Few, however, have obeyed this 
order, and although slaves have gone about without 
passes, not one has been stopped and brought to the Fort. 
The slaves belonging to the Fort, who never go out with- 

1 Cf. p. 367. 



DESPATCHES 555 

out a pass, have frequently told me that no one has ev-er 
asked them for their pass except the Managers of the 
Honourable Company. 

It is certain that if this order had been observed many 
a runaway would have been caught, and even had it 
been only two or three it would still have frightened the 
others. 

It seems to me that Mr Clarke wishes to leave Demerary, 
for I hear that all his plantations except one are for sale. 
A price has already been asked and offered for " Golden 
Grove," so Mr van der Sluys tells me. I am really sorry 
for this, Mr Clarke having been one of the strongest 
supporters of that river. This also greatly discourages 
the other English, all of whom are beginning to sing the 
same song. 

The Creole Tampoko came to the Commandant about 
eight or ten days before my return and reported that the 
Postholder and assistant at Arinda had not run away, nor 
been killed, but that the tribe of the Manoas, here called 
Magnauws, had been making a raid through the country 
and had come to the Post and carried off both the Post- 
holder and the assistant ; that they had taken all the goods 
and destroyed the buildings. This tribe is an ally of the 
Portuguese of Brazil. Tampoko is coming down again in 
a fortnight's time, when I shall send him up the Essequibo 
with a party of Caribs to obtain full information. 

There is a rumour here that the Post in Cuyuni has 
again been raided. I do not know whether it is true, 
because I have as yet had no direct tidings from above. 
The old negro Abarina, who always looks after the turtle 
business up in Cuyuni, and who is well acquainted with all 
the roads there, went up stream yesterday to get informa- 
tion. 



556 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

There will be a fine heap of work for the Court to get 
through at its meeting of October 5. I shall urge that 
serious measures be taken against the slave desertions, I 
await with impatience the result of Their High Mightiness's 
efforts and the advice of the Presidial Chamber in this 
matter ; if no efficacious remedies are instituted the Colony 
is ruined and I have grave fears for Your Honours' planta- 
tion " Aechterkerke." 

Had I only a good garrison of Germans or even of 
natives \ say at least a hundred men for the two rivers, 
detachments could be posted here or there and small 
vessels could cruise about, but with such cattle (forgive me 
the expression, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs) what 
can be done? If matters proceed in this way the Com- 
mandant and a sergeant will soon be the only ones left. 



The subjoined extracts are from a despatch of thirteen pages, 
writte7i i7i Storms smallest hand {over a thousand 
words to each folio page), giving, in addition to the 
usual circutnstantial report on the Colony, an account of 
various matters discussed in the Courts of Policy and 
justice ; the concluding portion may serve not 07ily as an 
example of the character of the Cojincillors but as a proof 
of the treatment and opposition the Director-General had 
to contend with even in the last years of his administra- 
tion; en passant, it throzvs a side-light upon his relations 
with Spoors, then only actijig as Councillor. 

P.R.O. 474/1 

December 9, 1767. 
(Extracts) 

The Assistant of Post Arinda has at last come down. 
The Creole Tampoko, whom I had sent up, met him and 
returned. 

* From a letter written by the Directors in 1162 (see p. 404) it will 
be seen that even in Zeeland it was considered nothing unusual to arm 
the natives for the Colony's defence ; Storm was constantly doing so. 



DESPATCHES 557 

Matters up there are not so bad as the Indians had 
reported ; the Manoas have not been in those parts, and 
indeed I could hardly believe it, because it seemed to me 
improbable that they would have come such a long distance 
without being discovered by the Caribs, their inveterate 
enemies, and the more so since, after the raid upon Cuyuni 
by the Spaniards, Essequibo swarms with Caribs, who have 
all flocked there after having asked me for permission to 
do so. 

But the Postholder having had some unpleasantness 
with the Acuways, whom he had treated very unjustly, 
had left the Post from fear of that tribe, and had taken 
refuge with the Caribs. It was this that caused the 
rumour ; some passing Indians, finding no one at the Post, 
and not knowing what had become of the Postholder, had 
given out their conjectures as the truth. 

The Postholder having failed to do his duty in every- 
thing and his conduct being perfectly inexcusable, I have 
dismissed him, and having at last found a man, one Gerrit 
Jansse, who brought in the slaves belonging to Van der 
Eyck, and, according to the unanimous testimony of all 
citizens, is an honest, upright and sober fellow, I have 
appointed him to be Postholder. He is to go up stream 
next week with the assistant and is to send down the 
dismissed Postholder, who has not dared to come down the 
river. I hope the Post will now be well looked after. 

As I could not leave the Post at Maroco without some 
defence I have provisionally and ad interim sent one 
Diderik Neelis there until I could get a good Postholder. 

It is unfortunate that no competent person can be 
found here for places of such an importance to the Colony ; 
they are nearly all men whose drinking habits would make 
them unfit for such a post. 

The one in Cuyuni is no better than the rest because he 
is asking to be placed elsewhere, saying that he cannot live 



558 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

there because the place is unhealthy. This is only a 
pretext, because he looks very well indeed, and there must 
be something else behind it which I have not yet been able 
to find out ; but it is a hard and fast rule in this Colony 
that when any one has an honest and competent servant all 
kinds of deceit are practised to seduce him and entice him 
away, a thing that has happened in the Honourable Com- 
pany's service more than once. 

1 have received a letter from a missionary priest in 
Orinoco, a translation of which I have the honour to send 
YY. HH.^ Is it not astonishing that such a man who knows 
very well how we are treated with respect to our runaway 
slaves, still dares to ask that the Indians who have run 
away from his Mission should be sent back to him, the 
same being free people? YY. HH. can see from this how 
free they hold the Indians who live under them, and who 
are treated much worse than their slaves. The bearer has 
gone to Martinique and will be back in February, when I 
hope to answer the letter in a fitting manner. 

2 And since according to the evidence of the negroes 
the village is as close to Essequibo as to Demerary Your 
Honours' creole Tampoko will march upon the same from 
the direction of Essequibo with a few Indians in order to 
be able to attack it from two sides. 

If the expedition were undertaken by well-disciplined 
soldiers I should feel more certain of its success (but what 
is to be expected of a party of unwilling citizens with 
whom the captains themselves fear little can be done, and 
who can only be got to obey with a great deal of diffi- 



^ Not reproduced. 

2 The matter here referred to is amply elucidated by Storm's 
letter to his son, the Commander of Demerara, dated Dece7nber ij 
(see pp. 561-563). 



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DESPATCHES 559 

culty ?) ; but since that is impossible we must use what 
means we have, and not being able to do as much as we 
might wish must be satisfied with doing what we can. 

The case of Somersall's negroes or slaves then came up^ 
and the evidence was taken of each of the purchasers, nearly 
all of whom declared they had bought them of John Ber- 
mingham and at his house, this being stoutly denied by 
Bermingham, even upon oath. The number of these slaves 
smuggled in amounts to forty, and since all the purchasers, 
with the exception of three, maintain that they bought 
them of J. Bermingham and at his house and had paid him 
for them, since, moreover. Councillor Changuion declared 
he had seen the slaves in the boiling-house there and had 
even bid for some of them, the matter seemed clear and 
irrefutable. 

The accused and witnesses having retired Mr Spoors^ 
in the first place said that this having occurred seven 
months ago the action of the Fiscal was null and void, 
whereupon I enquired in reply whether the Fiscal could 
institute an action before being aware of the crime and 
declared upon my word of honour that neither I nor the 
Commander had known, either directly or indirectly, of the 
sale of a single slave until the last ordinary meeting, when 
a vague report of the recovery of twelve runaways had led 
to an investigation. 

Mr Spoors, seeing that this was not contradicted by the 
other councillors, thereupon said that he would first require 
to see with his own eyes Your Honours' orders to me 
respecting the importation of slaves, whereupon I replied 



^ i.e. before a Court meeting held November i'j, iy6j. 

^ It should be borne in mind that Spoors, having a plantation of 
his own, would probably be interested in smuggled slaves (at least as 
far as their market price was concerned) whilst Bermingham was one 
of the Englishmen against whose tax-evading propensities Storm had 
often declaimed. 



$60 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

that the proclamations concerning the matter had been 
Hterally copied from Your Honours' despatches and were 
perfectly in accord therewith. Mr Spoors thereupon said 
that he did not believe it, and that he must see it — " See it 
we must ! " he repeated. 

Words fail me, Your Honours, to express how pained 
and upset I was by this direct insult put upon me in the full 
Court — a blow at my honour and character, a suggestion 
that I was a liar and capable of foisting upon the Court 
pretended orders from Your Honours ! I remained silent 
for a while, and having considered my physical condition, 
which is so weak that I was scarcely able to attend the 
meeting, that my administration was moreover near its 
end, that unseemly disputes and wrangles, wherein one 
word ever leads to another, would only harm the common 
weal, I restrained my feelings and only said " Very well, 
Mr Spoors, you shall see." Thereupon I rose to get Your 
Honours' despatch of June 19, 1766, and returning, read 
out Your Honours' commands distinctly and then showing 
Mr Spoors the signature asked him whether he desired 
anything more. Whereupon he said, " No, it is plain and 
shows us what we have to do — the matter allows of no further 
discussion." The junior councillor then asking me what 
sentence I demanded I replied, " I demand confiscation of 
the slaves for the benefit of the Honble. West India Co., 
without prejudice to the purchasers' claims upon J. Ber- 
mingham if he have deceived them (as indeed some of 
them he did), and as Fiscal I demand the value of the 
slaves as a penalty for violation of the law." Thereupon 
I rose and left the Court, ordering the Commander and 
Commandant to do likewise^ 

Invited to return half an hour later I was intensely 



^ Storm acting as Fiscal for the Colony, would have no voice in 
the judgment. 



DESPATCHES 561 

surprised to hear Mr Spoors, who had presided, say that 
the Court, in view of the lapse of time since the occurrence, 
had agreed to excuse the purchaser for this occasion and 
to condemn J. Bermingham to pay a fine of a thousand 
guilders, hoping that in future a strict watch would be kept 
upon smuggling either slaves or sugar. Upon this I 
laughingly asked whether the last speaker was himself able 
or could suggest any means to prevent it in Essequibo, 
whereupon he replied, " No, it is impossible." " As far as 
Demerara is concerned," I said, " I will answer for the 
slave smuggling there in future ; there is now a battery of 
three six-pounders at the lighthouse and orders have been 
given that incoming barques must be forced to come to 
anchor there under pain of being sent to the bottom ; if 
upon search they are found to carry slaves a guard is to be 
put on board and they are to be taken to Borssele Island." 
I had nothing, I added, to say to the judgment, but would 
have the honour to report to YY. HH. Whereupon the 
Court adjourned. 



P.R.O. 474/52 

December 13, 1767^ 
My dear Son, 

How fortunate it is for de Scharden and his 
companions, that the two negroes did not know or had forgot- 
ten the way ; we see now, all the more because it is over, the 
madness of his enterprise. Tampoko has come down with 
some Caribs and has brought me a very exact and circum- 
stantial account. As I had expected, it is only too true 



^ The above letter was addressed to J. C. van den Heuvel, Com- 
mander of Demerara, Storm's son-in-law. 

v. S. II. 36 



562 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

and certain that they are rebels from Berbice ; the village 
surrounded by palisades, lies some distance inland behind 
the plantation of the Widow Stock ; this is somewhere 
about the neighbourhood pointed out by the negroes. They 
are over a hundred strong, and crossed on a raft from the 
shore of Berbice up to Demerary. It took them a day 
before they were all over ; they had ten casks of powder 
with them. Their cassava is already fairly high, and up to 
the present they have obtained their bread from the Acuways 
up in Demerary, and have already had a skirmish with some 
Caribs and carried off an Aruwak woman, who has again 
escaped. 

The Caribs have informed me that they were ready to 
take up arms as soon as they should receive orders to attack 
them, but as they did not feel very safe about it, they ask 
for about six canoes to transport themselves with their 
bread ; these I shall try to obtain as speedily as possible 
and send them up. They informed me that it is highly 
necessary that the road of retreat up in Demerary should 
be cut off, which is also my opinion, wherefore I must request 
you to call the burgher officers together and to invite the 
Councillors Changuion and van der Lot to meet the same 
in order to weigh this matter well, and to arrive at some 
fitting resolution, and lay down regulations for investing 
the upper portion of Demerary. 

I am of opinion, salvo meliori, that the citizens ought 
not to attack them ; this should be left to the Caribs. If 
the enemy retires or flees they must not be spared, but 
certainly attacked, and therefore good outposts should be 
placed at certain distances to give warning according to 
signs agreed upon whenever they perceive anything. 

If I can get the canoes together, Tampoko shall proceed 
up the river on Monday or Tuesday morning to collect the 
Caribs who are ready, and proceed to the attack with them. 

Let the Councillors well consider this dangerous matter: 



DESPATCHES 563 

there must be no delay in this, for the possession of the 
two rivers depends upon it. 

I remain, 

Your affectionate father, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande, 

The utmost secrecy is necessary. 

P.S. — I shall inform you of the day on which the Caribs 
will proceed to the attack. I have already six canoes : 
Tampoko is now going up the river to fetch some men to 
take the canoes up and to bring word to the Caribs to get 
themselves ready. 



P.R.O. 474/59 

February 9, 1768. 
(Extracts) 

After referrmg at some length to the chaotic state of the 
Company's accounts wJiich, since the death of Mr Rous- 
selet, the acting Secretary, he has been attempting to 
bring into order and to keep Jiimself Stoin)i says : 

Now in my old age and soon, as I flatter myself, to be 
discharged from Your Honours' service, I am Director- 
General, Secretary, Bookkeeper, Salesmaster, in a word — 
everything. This does not worry me. Your Honours, so 
ong as it pleases the Almighty to grant me health and 
strength, and if only I can have the good fortune to gain 
Your Honours' approval. But I doubt not YY. HH. will be 
convinced that it is a very heavy task for me. 

The Creole Tampoko, having come down the river to 
fetch the boats, brought the principal Owl of Massaruni 
with him, the same who led the Indians in the expedition 
to Berbice which succeeded so well ^ ; I thought he was 

^ This chief is again mentioned on p. 598. 

36—2 



564 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

dead a long time ago. He told me that having gone into 
everything carefully he was of opinion that it would be 
better that they should go to Demerary and make the 
attack from there, because in going from here they would 
have to walk for a few hours up to their knees in water 
before they came to the negro houses, and that for this 
reason he had sent word to his tribe in Upper Essequibo 
to come down and keep watch upon that river in case the 
negroes should try to escape that way. I having approved 
of this on account of the reasons given, he departed with 
the canoes and will be here on the appointed day. I have 
informed the Commander of this, and have asked him to 
warn the Owl Conde to hold himself in readiness with his 
subject Warouws^ to aid the Caribs. 

It is true, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, that I took 
the liberty of informing YY. HH. that I was about to set 
out for Demerara^ with the intention of awaiting my 
successor there and would meanwhile entrust Mr Spoors 
with the command in Essequibo ; such however was to be 
with the proviso that I was to be informed of anything of 
importance that took place and that my orders concerning 
such events were to be awaited. 

I could not possibly imagine that " De Sarah " would 
have such a terrible voyage and was hoping to receive my 
discharge by " De Laurens en Maria," in which case my 
stay in Demerara would not have exceeded the usual time 
determined by YY. HH. 

The Lord be praised, I am not yet so bereft of my 
senses as to imagine that it was permissible for me to 
divest myself propria authoritate of the responsible charge 
entrusted to me and to lay it down de but en blanc. I am well 
aware that such conduct would have been inexcusable and 

1 See p. 343. 2 See despatch 21 April, ^7^71 PP- 543) 544- 



DESPATCHES 565 

not to be justified upon any grounds whatsoever ; moreover, 
it is an established custom here for such Company's servants 
as desire their discharge to give a year's notice thereof so 
that others may be found in that time to take their place. 
If this be the case with minor officials how much more so 
with a chief I am even surprised that YY. HH. could for 
a moment have thought such a thing of me^ 

^ Storm was of course ignorant of the fact that Spoors, the former 
Secretary and still a Councillor, had, under date oi June j6, 1767, 
written home as follows : — 

" On May 12 the Director-General set out from this river for 
Demerara, after having charged me, both verbally and in writing, 
with the command of Essequibo, His Excellency adding that it was 
his intention to remain in the aforesaid river until the arrival of his 
successor, he having definitely laid down his office and placed his 
resignation in the hands of His Serene Highness, and that he was 
resolved, in the event of his successor not arriving soon, to return 
home direct by the first ship." (P.R.O. 473/69.) 

No one who has even casually perused a few of Storm's despatches 
— let alone those who have followed him throughout his career — can 
possibly believe that his sense of duty would allow him, as he himself 
says (p. 566), "to leave the Colony ci Pabandon and to let things 
drift into chaos." Nevertheless, the matter needs some elucidation. 
Already in //JJ an application by Storm for leave to visit Europe 
solely in the Company's interests (see p. 339) had been refused and 
early in 176^ we find a similar refusal recorded (see p. 482) ; per- 
mission was at length tardily granted in 1766 (see p. 523) when 
Storm's state of health made him despair of being able to profit by 
it. Recovering, however, a few weeks later, he was preparing for his 
voyage when he received peremptory orders to stop where he was 
(see p. 591). Exceedingly chagrined hereat Storm early in May 
placed the command of Essequibo in Spoors' charge (see Spoors' 
own words ut supra), as he had often been wont to do, and set out 
for Demerara with the announced intention of awaiting there his 
discharge (see p. 544), which he confidently expected to receive at 
any moment in reply to his oft-repeated and most insistent demands. 
His discharge did not come and he returned to his duties (p. 566) 
which Spoors was unwilling longer to undertake {ib.). 

As faithful recorders of Storm's life we must admit that his con- 
fession to Bentinck — "j'ay etd sur le point plus d'une fois de mettre 
bas mes emplois et de partir pour I'Europe" (p. 591) — taken in 
conjunction with Spoors' statement ("that he was resolved, in the 
event of his successor not arriving soon to return home direct by 



566 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

Seeing then my expectations disappointed upon the 
arrival of Capt. Different, by whom, too, no news came of 
the " Sarah's " arrival, I tarried no longer but returned to 
Essequibo, There was no necessity to resume the command, 
for I had in no wise laid it down, but I hurried the more 
(although my stay in Demerara for some weeks longer was 
not only desirable, but in some measure necessary, since the 
investigation of certain dealings would have been of 
advantage to the Honourable Company) because Mr Spoors 
had, in reply to Commandant Bakker's request for certain 
orders, been good enough to say, " Let those give orders 
who are paid for doing so ; I am out of the service and the 
deuce take me if I bother any more about it." Receiving 
this report at 6 o'clock in the evening I was on my way 
already at six the next morning, although otherwise I would 
have waited for the next spring tide, when the voyage is 
much easier because one need not then avoid the sandbanks 
and can keep close to the shore. 

Since then, too, I have not been out of Essequibo, as 
YY. HH. have been able to see from all my letters written 
after the arrival of " De Laurens en Maria." All the 
vessels having, thank God, safely arrived in Middelburg 
I should certainly have had the honour of reporting verbally 
to YY. HH. and of presenting my thanks for the various 
benefits enjoyed, such having been my dearest wish and in 
truth necessary for many reasons. But, Your Honours, how- 
ever great my desire was I could not possibly bring myself 
to leave the Colony a rabandoji and to let things drift into 
chaos ; the death of Mr Rousselet, the lack of a proper 
substitute, the unwillingness of Mr Spoors to undertake 



the first ship") — would, standing as a single action, be open to the 
construction the Directors appear to have placed on Spoors' words 
alone, but we submit that the whole tenour of Storm's life proves it 
to have been not an intention but a lapsus calami due to his well 
justified exasperation. 



DESPATCHES 567 

Mr Rousselet's duties ad interim or even to take the com- 
mand — all this rendered my departure if not impossible, at 
least unjustifiable. 

The reasons for my resignation submitted both to His 
Serene Highness and to YY. HH. consist alone in my 
advanced age and the ailments with which it pleases the 
Almighty often to visit me. Those reasons exist, but the true 
reason that forcibly impelled me I have always kept to 
myself and will still do so for some days, having only the 
honour to assure YY. HH. that it in no wise, directly or 
indirectly, concerned YY. HH., whose treatment of me 
personally is worthy of all praise and calls for my deepest 
gratitude. The reasons I had at the departure of " De 
Sarah" are far from extinct but on the contrary increase 
in force daily and have now become of much greater import 
to me — an example whereof may be seen in the proceedings 
of the Court on November 25 last, an occurrence all too 
public (and for an honourable and respectable man all too 
unbearable) to be glossed over\ 

And the longer things go on the worse they get. If I 
write letters I receive no reply — only a verbal message that 
the person written to will come to me ; meanwhile weeks pass 
and no one comes. I found the books in a terrible muddle 
and have had endless toil and trouble to get them into order. 
The office is in uttermost confusion — some protocols missing, 
some badly injured by wood-lice, deeds of all sorts mixed 
up in a heap, no register or notes of the mortgages (upon 
which I am now at work, as being of the first consequence) 
— in a word, perfect chaos. 

This must, however, not be accounted to the late 
Mr Rousselet ; he went on with it as he found it. I doubt 
not that YY. HH. will have received a copy of the office 
inventory made by Messrs van der Heyde and Bakker 

1 See pp. 559-561. 



568 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

when Mr Rousselet succeeded Mr Spoors, if not, I will ask 
Mrs Rousselet for it. Ex tingiie leoneni. 

We very frequently see, as the proverb says, that even 
a worm will turn. It had always been my idea that to 
endure without retaliating was the surest way to disarm 
one's foes, but. Your Honours, patience, long tried, has its 
limits. My period of endurance is coming to its end, and, 
if further ill-treatment compels me to take up the pen and 
to make formal and de facto complaint to His Serene 
Highness and YY. HH., I hope, if life and health be spared 
me, to do so with all the necessary details, and to repeat 
the same verbally. 

I find, God be thanked, that the Merciful and Omni- 
potent One gives each one strength to bear his burden. 
I must now do what I have not done for twenty-nine years, 
that is, sit writing in my office from seven till twelve in the 
morning and from three to six in the afternoon ; and 
although unused to it, I do it with pleasure and without 
fatigue. Never to put off till to-morrow what can be done 
to-day is a lesson I learnt from my worthy grandfather in 
my eighth year, the careful practice of which now stands 
me in good stead and gives me much ease. If one goes 
regularly about one's work, dealing sparely with drink and 
not permitting that pleasant seductive Madeira wine to 
become one's master, a good deal more can be done than 
one would think. 

" Time enough, time enough ! " is the common cry of 
the Creoles and natives here, and thereby many a one has 
been brought to confusion. 

I am not at all surprised that Mr Spoors is opposed to 
the introduction of the acreage dues ; self-interest always 
comes to the top with most people. Should he desire to 
keep all his land (which he still maintains he has the right 



DESPATCHES 569 

to do notwithstanding Your Honours' formal decision) he 
would have to pay a pretty considerable sum in acreage 
dues or give up a deal of the land — and neither alternative 
pleases him. Many colonists are against the tax, though 
quite as many are for it, but 

Tnrba per extremas semper bachata vagatur 
Et medias nescit carpere tiita vias'^. 



And, 



Mille hominum species et rernin discolor usiis : 
Velle SHum cuique est, nee voto vivitur tmo"^. 



In the same despatch in which the Commander informs 
me of the arrival of the ship " De Vliegende Visch " I find 
these words : — " There are twelve soldiers on board who 
are again good recruits for Orinoco, because they are nearly 
all French^" Mr Lonk, who came over as a passenger, 
has assured me that they are all French, and that with the 
exception of one or two they are all Roman Catholics. 
Can it be possible that YY. HH. are so deceived by the 
crimps ? I shall have them closely examined, but as I have 
received no muster-roll I do not know how they are 
described. 



1 We have been unable to trace this quotation ; Professor Bensly 
does not think it is from any classical author. 

" Persius, v. 52. 

2 The Commander of Demerara, in a despatch to the Zeeland 
Directors dated Februmy /S, 1768, writes : — 

" I was very pleased, YY. HH., on reporting the arrival of the twelve 
men to the Director-General to hear from him that, according to Your 
Honours' letter, they were all Protestants and that there was not a 
Frenchman, Fleming, Portuguese, or Spaniard amongst them. But 
when I mustered them I found to my great surprise that out of these 
twelve men there were only three who were not French, these being 
the corporal, who comes from Utrecht, and has served in the State 
troops for some years, and a German, a native of Zweibrucken, and a 
French deserter. The others are all Frenchmen and deserters, so that 
I conclude that YY. HH. have been scandalously deceived by the 
recruiting agents, who are infamous scoundrels." 



570 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

In addition to this all the Indians have declared that 
they will have no French at the Posts, a troop of more 
than lOO Warouwans, all well armed, having already- 
arrived at the Post Maroco saying that they came to see 
whether there was a Frenchman there, and intending to 
kill him if it were so. 

Wherefore also Pierre Martin has come down the river 
from Cuyuni, the Indians flatly refusing to come and live 
anywhere near the Post so long as he is there. They will 
have a Dutchman, they say. 

The soldiers who came in " De Spoor " have arrived ; 
they are again nearly all Frenchmen, but I will say no 
more — oleum et operant perdidi in this matter. I was engaged 
upon the Register when the letter-bag of " De Spoor " was 
brought in so that I have had to break off and put it away 
until the next ship goes — ultra posse nemo tenetur. 



P.R.O. 474/82 

April 9, 17681. 
(Extracts) 

In my last I had the honour of replying concerning the 
earnest request I made for my discharge and my letter to 
H. S. H. on the matter and I shall not dilate thereupon here 
except to say that I am still very impatiently longing for 
my release. Although, contrary to expectation, my constant 
infirmities, one of the reasons that then prompted me, 
have, the Lord be praised and thanked, much diminished, 



1 The despatch, consisting of about 20,000 words, from which the 
above extracts are taken, was commenced, as the text shows, on 
February 12 (see p. 571). 



DESPATCHES 571 

I have no reason to flatter myself that this will remain so 
long, and as I am hoping very much for rest I will not yet 
enter upon the further weighty reasons, which, far from 
diminishing, increase daily and really render the service 
bitter to me. 

Were I to write circumstantially regarding these, this 
despatch would be as voluminous as Your Honours' very 
esteemed of August 24, the reply to which I am beginning 
to-day February 12 (quite early enough); time, too, would 
not allow me to do so without neglecting my own affairs 
and those of the Company and Colony, the latter occupying 
so much thereof that I have really need of three bodies. 

I am very sorry that I expressed myself ill in my letter 
or was misunderstood by YY. HH. It was in no wise my 
intention to give up the direction of affairs before the 
arrival of my successor or to remain in Demerara if his 
coming was delayed longer than I expected or wished ; 
this, too, YY. HH. will have fully perceived from my later 
letters, but I have already answered this in my last. 

Tela prcevisa minus nocenf^. One can guard against an 
open enemy, but it is not so easy to withstand a concealed 
one who under the mask of noble-hearted friendship seeks 
to injure, to calumniate and to thwart us in every way. 
Ungrateful, envious and mean spirits, who grudge their 
fellows even a crust of bread and secretly attack their 
honour are only too frequently met with in this world. 
The English dramatist Shakespear says with good reason : 



^ This is another quotation which we have been unable to trace. 
Professor Bensly points out that in John of Salisbury's Epistolae 
(Ep. cxii. p. 203 in the 1611 edit.) occurs the line 

Jacula qiioque minus laedttnt, quae praevidentur 
which is extraordinarily similar ; also that the line 

Nam levins laedit, quidquid praevidimus ante, 
expressing the same sentiment, is found in Uionysius Cato's Disticha 
de moribus (Bk. 11. xxiv. p. 188 in Arntzenius' ed., Amsterdam, 1734). 



572 STORM VAN S GRAVESANDE'S 

" Despoil my purse, I heed it not — tis trash : 
Tis mine, tis yours, tis anybody's ; 
But rob me of my good name, I'm poor indeed ^" 

When I was at the Court in 175 1 I took the Hberty to say 
to Mr van VVassenaer, BailHe of the Hague, " To have the 
West Indian sense one must have been in the West Indies," 
and this may well pass for an axiom, for it is an absolute 
impossibility for a European to form a just idea of these 
regions and one in accordance with the actual state of 
affairs. No reading, no narratives sufifice ; experience is 
here certainly the best and safest instructress. 

Moreover, this Colony resembling Noah's Ark, in which 
were clean and unclean beasts, by its mixture of all tongues, 
races and nationalities, patience and forbearance, so far as 
circumstances permit, are the best qualities to cultivate. 

The proverb says, " Patience is a good herb, but it does 
not grow in every man's garden I" In Europe it absolutely 
refused to grow in my garden, but in this Colony I was 
compelled to cultivate it and to tend it with great care. 
This, too, was most necessary at the beginning of my 
service, and I was more than once earnestly recommended 
by Your Honours' Assembly to exercise all possible in- 
dulgence. But Tempora imitantnr, et nos vmtamur in illis^. 



^ Who steals my purse, steals trash : 
'Tis something, nothing ; 

'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands, 
But he that filches from me my good name 
Robs me of that, which not enriches him 
And makes me poor indeed. 

Othello, Act in. So. iii. 

Shakespeare's exact words (as they appear in the 1623 edition) 
have been reproduced here in order to show that not only was Storm 
trusting to his memory but that he was able in so doing to put 
English together pretty fairly. 

2 Patientie is een goed krtiyd, iiiaer het wast in alle mans hove niet. 

3 Sic. Stormused the usually accepted order of the words. Matthias 



DESPATCHES 573 

Things are no longer what they were. In those days I 
could by kind words and pithy reasons get the burghers to do 
anything ; now neither good nor bad words, and not even the 
most urgent commands of the Court, are of the least avail. 

To-morrow is the day appointed by the Caribs for the 
attacks God knows how it will end if things go in 
Demerary as the Commander has reason to fear. There 
is no difficulty about the Caribs; they will do their duty 
well ; but if the fugitives are not stopped at Demerary and 
can get over the river this matter may have results that 
can last for years. It is a sad thing that there are so many 
people who will not understand reason — will not, I say, 
because it is impossible to believe that they do not grasp 
the danger and the results of their unwillingness. 

I fully agree with YY. HH. that if the Company's revenues 
are not alone to equal but to exceed the expenditure already 
and still to be incurred many new measures will have to be 
framed. But permit me, YY. HH., once more to say that to 
have the West Indian sense one must have been for a time 
in the West Indies. I trust that no wrong measures will 
be passed or false economy regarded, which would make 
matters much worse than they are now. 

Take it not amiss, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 
that an old servant who has now served YY. HH. over thirty 
years, who flatters himself to have looked after the best 
interests of his lords and masters and of the Colony faith- 
fully and honestly, whose greatest and latest pleasure in 
life would be to see the latter in a flourishing condition, 

Borbonius, Delitiae Poctarutn Ger7)ia7toriiJii (Frankfort, 1612) vol. i. 
p. 685, attributes this line to Lothair I, Emperor of Gei'many, though 
in the following form : — 

Onniia imitantur^ 110s et inutamur in tilts. 

^ See p. 564. 



574 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

and who, burdened beyond his strength with matters that 
his zeal and affection for the Company do not permit him 
to neglect, is now through old age and worries soon about to 
leave that service, — take it not amiss if he makes bold to 
speak openly and as his heart dictates. I detest all flattery 
and feigning and am also convinced of Your Honours' 
righteousness and justice, of which I have had so many 
proofs, wherefore I have no fear YY. HH. will take it in ill 
part and shall therefore continue to write in that spirit. 

March 28. — I am again sending an express to-day to 
the Commander to inform him that Gerrit Jansse, the Post- 
holder of Arinda, had come down stream and reported to 
me that he had spoken to the body of Caribs up by the 
fall ; that the Owl^ had charged him to tell me that every- 
thing there had been well searched but that nothing had 
been found ; that they had imprisoned the Aruwak who 
had brought them there and had sent him off, together 
with Tampoko, a few Aruwaks, and some of their own 
men, to catch a negro from Berbice who was living in 
those parts ; that they would closely examine him and 
attack anything he pointed out, but that if there were 
nothing, he would come to me with the negro and the 
Aruwak. 

The Postholder of Arinda has reported to me that all is 
well up there, and that the tribes are at perfect peace with 
each other. 

Such is not the case with the Acuways up in Demerary 
called Wapessansis^ ; these have killed three Caribs on the 
coast of Berbice, and the latter will not rest until they have 

^ The designation for a native chief. 

2 There is no warrant for regarding the Wapisanas as a connection 
or branch of the Akawois ; Storm however had but little knowledge 
of the former until I'^dg (see p. 617). 



DESPATCHES 575 

had their revenge. The former tribe is thus in continual 
fear of being unexpectedly attacked by the Caribs, which is 
certain to happen even if it should be after the lapse of a 
year. I have written the Commander earnestly to warn all 
the citizens and his soldiers that when this occurs they are 
not to interfere, directly or indirectly, except to make peace 
if possible, and especially are they to take care not to pro- 
vide either party with arms or otherwise to assist them, 
since such action might bring the other party upon us and 
have fatal results, especially for those colonists who live up 
the river in isolated places, and especially since they now 
see for themselves what help they would get from their 
neighbours in case of need. 

Tampoko came down the river yesterday evening with 
his body of Caribs. When the canoes arrived we thought 
there were some negroes in them, because some of the 
Caribs had entirely covered their head and face with their 
salempouris. This custom was quite unknown to me. When 
they came on shore I asked Tampoko what it meant, and 
he told me that these were men who had killed negroes ; 
this is their custom, and they must go like that for a month. 
After which I got the two Owls to give me a full account of 
the expedition. They said that on the day when they had 
spoken to the Postholder of Arinda and given him a mes- 
sage for me they had not yet been able to discover anything; 
that on the same day they had climbed Mount Arisari^ to be 
able to look around. On reaching the top they immediately 
discovered the negro houses and plantations. Being very 
pleased with this, they commenced their march on the 
morning of the next day ; that close to the place they first 

^ Mt Arissari will be found marked on the Map in latitude 5° 35', 
therefore much below the site of Post Arinda at this date, but, as 
Storm explains on the previous page, the Postholder was on his way 
down to the Fort. 



5/6 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

came to the house of a free Creole from Berbice named 
Peter, who had served in Demerary for about three years as 
a carpenter, and who was now Hving alone. No one mis- 
trusted him, and he was at my house only about six weeks 
ago. 

Tampoko was extremely surprised at finding him at 
home, because he had spoken to him down here before 
starting, and had asked him whether he had not heard any- 
thing of the negroes, whereupon he had answered, " Not 
the least," and that scoundrel lived only a rifle-shot from 
them, and asked Tampoko where he was going. The 
latter not trusting him said, " I am going to look for the 
negroes." " It is labour in vain," said the other, " there are 
none," 

Tampoko, being very suspicious concerning his speedy 
journey home, asked him, " How do you come here before 
me when I made such haste ? Are there no negroes about 
here .-• " " No, not one," said he. " What is this talking 
then that I hear on the other side of the creek ? " asked 
Tampoko. " I don't know," said Peter, " but there are no 
negroes here." 

Meanwhile Tampoko had sent out two Carib scouts, 
who were immediately attacked by the negroes and one of 
them severely wounded. 

Upon hearing their shouts for help the other Caribs 
rushed to their assistance, two remaining with Tampoko, 
to whom the latter said, " Capture this Creole and bind him," 
and thereupon went to the main body. 

The Creole, hearing this, tried to escape, but the two 
Caribs sent two poisoned arrows into his back, and followed 
Tampoko. On their coming up he asked them whether 
they had caught or killed the Creole. They said, " No, but 
we have sent two arrows into his body." Tampoko said, 
" He must be killed or taken prisoner," whereupon one of the 
two went back and finding him dragging himself along shot 



DESPATCHES 577 

another arrow at him and coming back to Tampoko said, 
" Now he has enough, he will not go much farther." 

The Caribs were not at work very long, having killed 
seven men, one woman and one girl — three men and a few 
women and children, whom they could not pursue, having 
escaped. They have brought the seven right hands to me, 
and I am just now occupied in paying them^ 

They have assured me that the Acuways of Essequibo 
have promised them to look after the rest and deliver them 
up. With the permission of the Caribs they have taken 
po.ssession of the negro bread plantations, which they will 
entirely lay waste ; the houses are already razed to the 
ground, and all the weapons of the negroes have been brought 
to me. 

The Lord be praised that the matter turned out so 
successfully. What might not the results have been for 
this Colony, especially when they had such a scoundrel 
with them who had free access to all the plantations both 
here and in Demerary, and who was not mistrusted in the 
least, he having only recently shown me a certificate from 
Calleway and Bikkel that he had worked on their planta- 
tion for about a year and always behaved honestly and 
loyally. 

" What will the busy-bodies in Demerary say now ?" I 
wrote to the Commander to-day. Last week de Scharde 
said in several places " a Creole like that is believed before 
me who know everything and have examined everything, 
and the burghers are obliged to endure all kinds of fatigues 
and hardships on his account, and I will wager that it is all 
for nothing." The Commander and myself are obliged to 

^ The interest of this narrative hes in the fact that Tampoco, who 
subsequently hanged himself, was said to have invented it and to have 
imposed upon Storm ; there is however ground for doubting that 
assertion. Storm himself certainly believed in the Creole even after 
his suicide. See pp. 583 and 585. 

V. s. II. i7 



578 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

hear such speeches daily. It is our turn to speak now, but 
what is the use of it with such people, who think that they 
are excused when they say, " I should not have thought it," 
or, " I cannot believe it." 

May I not justly say that activity, attentiveness, and 
patience are absolutely necessary here now ? 

Time does not permit me to write so circumstantially 
concerning all this as the importance of the matters perhaps 
demand. If the Almighty grant me life and health, I hope, 
when discharged from my office and more at peace, to use 
the pen somewhat more freely, it being however my inten- 
tion not to engage in any business matters and to write 
only to YY. HH., if so desired, concerning the above and 
Colony affairs. Nor shall I undertake any commissions or 
procurations of any sort, hoping then to be able to say 
with the Roman lyric poet Horace (Lib. 2 Ode 10): 

Rectius vives, Licini, neque altU7n 
Semper urgendo neque, dum procellas 
Cautus horrescis, nimium premendo 

Litus iniqimni. 
Auream quisqiie mediocritatem 
Diligit, tutus caret obsoleti 
Sordibus tecti, caret tnvidenda 

Sobrius aula. 
Saepius ventis agitatur ingens 
Pinus et celsae graviore casu 
Decidunt turres feriuntque summos 

Fubnitia^ motites. 



1 Some editions have fulgura ; of all Storm's longer quotations, 
this is most free from slips. 



DESPATCHES 579 

P.R.O. 474/102 

Demerara, June i, 1768. 
(Extracts) 

This pleasure and satisfaction I have, however, in all my 
worries — that my efforts on behalf of Demerara have not 
been fruitless and that that river now not only far surpasses 
Essequibo but is apparently about to become, under the 
Lord's blessing, and through the great and daily increasing 
afflux thither, a mighty and flourishing colony ; to secure 
this, however, the scum will have to be removed and the 
obstacles cleared away, which labour I will leave to my 
successor. God grant that he may have the necessary 
knowledge and firmness for his task ; I look for his coming 
with great longing. 

The principal fishery, YY. HH., has always been in 
the mouth and between the islands of Orinoco, near 
the Warouws, to which we send salting markott' twice 
every year. This has never been prevented until recently, 
to the inexpressible injury of the Company's plantations 
and Colony, because there now being a want of that fish, 
and the slaves being obliged to have their rations, salt 
cod has continually to be bought, which even in one year 
runs pretty high, and sometimes brings me into difficulties 
with the payment. Onl)' this week I paid over 300 guilders 
to Captain Andrew ; the twelve casks of meat which each 
plantation gets annually are of little use, and 1000 lbs. of 
fish is soon gone. 

The other fishery is carried on in the two dry seasons on 
the sea-coast for querman^ ; it is very uncertain, the seasons 

^ Schomhuvg'k {Description of British Guiana, 1840, p. 39) mentions 
the " morocoto," which may be an alternative spelling. 

- Hilhouse, Indian Notices (p. 35), says that the Warouvv Indians 
"barbacot and salt great quantities of the^querryman {genus inugH) 
with which they traffic on the coast, and sometimes as far as town." 

37—2 



58o STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

having been unreliable since 1763. We are now at the 
height of the dry season, and there is not a single querman 
on the coast. This fishery moreover costs immeasurably 
more than the others, the Aruwaks who are engaged in it 
requiring four times as much pay, &c. 

The Posts are now in proper order ; those at Maroco and 
Cuyuni ought to be strengthened ; but Roman Catholic 
soldiers ought not to be sent there, and we have, so to say, 
no others. I should otherwise certainly have sent reinforce- 
ments to Moruka, because our rascally deserters have 
arrived in Barima with a few Spaniards and have robbed 
the widow la Riviere of all her slaves and property. This 
did not matter very much, because I had strictly forbidden 
Jan la Riviere to settle between Essequibo and Orinoco, 
and for greater security I had this inserted in his pass ; he 
was also forbidden by the Court to settle in Barima. The 
deserters also threatened to come and make a raid upon the 
Post of Moruka, but having offered a few insults to the 
Caribs,the latter, being rather short-tempered, killed Hendrik 
Rodemeyer and the drummer Jacobus Van Maelen, and 
came to bring me information of what they had done. 
When I told them that they had acted wrongly they said 
that the killed men were only Touarimbos, that is to say, run- 
aways who are no great loss, and who are only mischievous. 
Whereupon I answered, " That is true as far as regards thair 
being no great loss, but your people ought to have taken 
them alive, and brought them here, then you would have 
received good payment." Whereupon they replied, " Very 
well, we shall try to get the other two." I therefore do not 
think that the Post is in any danger now, because I do not 
believe that the Spaniards would dare to join them openly, 
and the Postholder has abundance of scouts and is on his 
guard. 

It is of the utmost necessity that we should have 



DESPATCHES S8l 

Protestant soldiers. I am certain that YY. HH. are con- 
vinced of the necessity of this, but how little hope there is 
of getting them I see from the last shipment which, with 
the exception of about four, consisted of none but Catholics, 
and from Your Honours' letter I can only conclude that 
YY. HH. have been greatly deceived \ 

This ties my hands completely, and nothing can be done 
at the Posts, which are daily exposed to pillage ; the Post- 
holder cannot absent himself for a few days, let alone for a 
few weeks, as he would have to do to make any discoveries. 
We have now a good Postholder at Arinda who has done 
more in six months than the others did in six years, but 
reinforcements is his daily cry in order to be able to go 
farther, it being impossible to leave the Post alone among 
those savage tribes without having all his bread and 
merchandise stolen, and it is inadvisable for any one to 
go inland unless there are at least two of them, in case of 
illness, etc. 

The garrison of the two rivers ought to consist of at 
least lOO men (as it does in Berbice), but if they are to be 
Catholics it would be better to remain as we are, and even 
less, since the proximity of the Spaniards is a standing 
danger of desertion, and if the opportunity were embraced 
by many at once it would have fatal results for some 
plantations. This was very much feared when those seven 
deserted together, and we do not dare to send any one after 
them, not only on account of the smallness of our numbers, 
but because it is feared that those who are sent would join 



^ The Directors' reply, dated Nov. 28, 1768, ran : — 
"We agree with you in deeming an adequate garrisoning of the 
various Posts of the Colony to be of the highest importance, but, as 
for the sending of Protestant or Lutheran soldiers, we have again to 
refer to our preceding letter. Up to the present we have not been 
able to obtain any Protestant soldiers, nor even any Germans, although 
we have given abundant orders to all lodging-house keepers." 



582 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

the runaways, especially if they have a good boat and pro- 
visions. 



The description of our neighbouring Spanish Governors 
which I had the honour to send YY. HH.', is taken from 
life and by no means exaggerated. YY. HH. may well say, 
" May God preserve our colonists from such ! " because such 
government would soon result in total ruin. 

But, YY. HH., that would not be so easy with free-born 
Netherlanders or Englishmen as with people born under a 
despotic rule and accustomed to slavery, since the colonists 
all coming from Guayana and Trinidad are slaves in the 
narrowest sense of the word. Such Governors would not 
be tolerated long, and the Assemblies of Their High Mighti- 
nesses and of YY. HH. would soon re-echo with perfectly 
justifiable complaints. 

What have those people but their cattle, for which 
Providence has given them excellent pastures .'' They have 
nothing else in the world, and are actually in want of 
bread. It might be urged that this is due to their sloth. 
This is true in a sense, but who would willingly work for 
another? If we took the bread from the gardens of our 
slaves, do YY. HH. think they would work for love of the 
thing on their free Saturdays ? By no means. 

I should be very grieved if Mr Clarke were to leave the 
Colony ; the reasons why he called in some of his out- 
standing monies are now known to me and are very good 
ones. Mr Clarke in Demerara and W. Croydon in Esse- 
quibo are honest, upright men, of much profit and advantage 
to the Colony, the welfare of which they have at heart ; but 
were we quit of all the other English and had Dutch or 
Germans instead the loss would not be great, but on the 

1 See p. 553. 



DESPATCHES 583 

contrary, the Colony's progress and welfare would be much 
furthered and smuggling put an end to. 

As soon as the Court meeting of June 4 is over I intend, 
if the Lord grant me health, to proceed to the three planta- 
tions in order to have a careful inventory made, but I can 
rely so little upon my condition, which is very changeable. 
Old age brings many infirmities and that is the common 
course of nature. Were it permissible to compare the very 
humble with the very great I could almost say with the 
Emperor Vespasian Decet imperatoreni stantem mori, for I 
fear it will be my fate, if I am not soon released, to succumb 
under the weight of my work. 

We are at present in very precarious circumstances, the 
Acuways and Caribs being now in open war, which will 
probably bring about a great massacre shortly. 

There was a report here that Tampoko and the Caribs 
had not killed negroes but Indians, and that the hands 
brought down were the hands of Indians'. If such were 
found to be true I have never seen a rascally trick executed 
more carefully and clothed with more feasible circumstances, 
and I think that Satan himself might be deceived in this way. 

I have requested Mr van der Heyde, who lives right 
amongst the Caribs, to be good enough carefully to examine 
the matter ; he has already had the Owls at his place, who 
stoutly and emphatically deny this accusation. (I can 
scarcely believe it myself.) He will continue his investiga- 
tions and send me down Tampoko as soon as he comes 
home. 

The Postholder of the Corentin- has provided the Caribs 

1 See pp. 575-577 and 585. 

2 The west bank of the Corentin (being the bank nearest Demerara 
and Essequibo) was regarded {see Laws of British Guiana, igoj) as 



584 STORM VAN 'S GRAVES ANDE'S 

with blunderbusses. What does this mean, YY. HH., when 
an old law still in force, and one that I have always in- 
sisted upon being observed, forbids the sale of arms to any 
Indians?...! believe that too strong a self-interest is at the 
bottom of the Postholder's unjustifiable conduct, for the 
Akavvois being slaves in Surinam he hopes by that war to 
get hold of a good number of them and Heaven knows 
whether he did not himself incite the war. Quid iion 
mortalia pectora cogis aiiri sacra fames'^} 

The drummer Jacobus van Maelen, who ran away with 
the Postholder of Moruka, and who was believed to have 
been killed by the Caribs (this fate having in reality befallen 
one of the other deserters) has returned, together with a 
negro belonging to Miss Persik, and alleges that he was 
coerced by the dire threats of the Postholder. He relates 
that all the French deserters from here, together with the 
Postholder, have left for Martinique in a French vessel, and 
that Streep is a carpenter and Philip Boucher a constable, 
in Guayana. 



P.R.O. 474/125 

June 6, 1768. 

(Extract) 

Things are now really becoming serious, YY. HH. Last 
night an express arrived from Berbice reporting that the 
Caribs above Berbice having been defeated by the Acuways, 
a body of 600 Caribs has passed the fort there, and together 

under the jurisdiction of Surinam until the year 1800, when it was 
" declared and acknowledged henceforth to belong to the Government 
of the Colony of Berbice" (then under English rule) but with the 
express proviso that the post established on that bank should remain 
in the possession and under command of the Surinam government. 
1 Virgil, JEn. iii. 57. 



DESPATCHES 585 

with several other bodies had taken the road to Upper 
Demerary and Essequibo, so that now our Caribs of Esse- 
quibo and Massaruni will take up arms and the war will 
become universal. The Lord knows what the results will 
be ; 1 do not expect much good from it. 



P.R.O. 474/139 

July 20, 1768. 
(Extract) 

The Creole Tampoco, who was apprehended and placed 
in prison here by my orders on account of a report that he 
had had Arawaks killed instead of negroes and was to 
have been tried by the Court, hanged himself as soon as he 
heard that I had returned from Demerara ; I have had him 
hanged by his legs on the gallows. The Caribs whom I 
had ordered to be here on that day did not come ; probably 
they are also fighting against the Akawois. Nor did the 
Arawaks, Tampoco's accusers, come\ 



P.R.O. 474/180 

September 15, 1768. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

A report which I received after the closing of my 
letterscompelsmeto add these few lines. A Spanish privateer 
from Orinoco, cruising along our coast, made an attempt 
to capture Your Honours' Salter before the River Waini 

1 The incident which gave rise to Tampoco's arrest and suicide is 
fully set out on pp. 574-577 and 583. Already in his June despatch 
Storm expresses his doubt concerning the Creole's guilt, the last 
sentence of the above extract being also very suggestive ; he again 
refers to the matter in February^ ^7^9 (see p. 598) and remains as 
unconvinced as ever. Tampoco was certainly a strange and interest- 
ing character, and had been of much service to the Company ; earlier 
exploits of his are narrated on pp. 488, 489, 496, 522, 537 and 563. 



586 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

(indisputably the Company's territory) and fired very 
strongly upon him. The latter was cautious enough (not 
being able to escape otherwise) to run his boat high and 
dry upon the bank so that he could not be reached by the 
privateer who, having continued to fire upon him for some 
time, and seeing that he could do nothing, finally departed. 

They are not content with most unreasonably keeping 
our runaway slaves and with hindering us from carrying on 
the fishery in Orinoco, which we have always been free to 
do, but they now wish to prevent us from salting along our 
own coasts, and will in this manner end by closing our 
river, and no boats will dare to go out any more. Is this 
proper behaviour on the part of our neighbours and allies ? 

Must we, YY. HH., regard all this quietly and endure all 
these insults and hostile acts ? Must we see our Posts 
raided and ruined and our boats attacked upon our own 
coasts .'* What is to be the end of this ? There is no redress 
to be got from the Court of Spain. Why not exercise the 
JUS talionis ? 

The Caribs of Barima were here last week and complained 
that some of our deserters with a party of Spaniards were 
continually molesting them in Barima and robbing them of 
everything. I asked them whether they were not men and 
had no hands to defend themselves. They answered, 
" Indeed, they had," but that they did not know whether they 
might do so. I replied that they must indeed be careful to 
give the Spaniards not the slightest reason for complaint, but 
that if they were unjustifiably attacked they might stoutly 
defend themselves. This pleased them very much, because 
I had not yet been willing to grant them so much liberty. 

We have discovered that at the same time that the 
corporal and three soldiers ran away from Demerary to 
Orinoco there was a plot formed here by a party of French- 
men to take to their heels. We were warned just in time, 
whereupon the Commandant immediately had all the boats 



DESPATCHES 587 

secured as far as possible and sent warnings to " Duynen- 
burg" and all the neighbours. The desertion was thus 
prevented, but it is only for a short time ; they will watch 
their opportunity, and even if they went away before our 
eyes, in a manner of speaking, what could we do ? To 
have them pursued would be going ex Scilla in Charibdim, 
for the pursuers would very probably join them, and the 
more so because they would be well armed and well 
furnished with provisions. 

Therefore, YY. HH., be pleased not to take it amiss if as 
long as I have the honour to be in Your Honours' service 
(which I trust will be but a short time) I send back to 
Europe by the first ship all recruits who come here and 
turn out to be French. Necessity compels me to do this, 
and I would no longer be answerable to God or man for 
the danger into which the Colony would be brought by this. 
The colonists, especially those down in the river and on the 
sea-coast, are unceasingly complaining that they are con- 
tinually compelled to be on their guard, and really they have 
great reason for doing so. 

Having written this in great haste, I have the honour 
to be, with deep respect and esteem. Noble and Right 
Honourable Sirs, 

Your Honours' most humble and obedient servant, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



p.R.o. 474/166 

November 9, 1768. 
(Extract) 

The beginning of this letter will not be pleasant, because 
I am obliged to inform YY. HH. that in the night between 
the 5th and 6th of October four French soldiers ran away 
from the Fort here to Orinoco, as I had expected, and as 



588 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

YY. HH. will have seen from my former letters. They have 
taken as a companion, and apparently as a leader, one 
Servaes Smith, whom Mr Massol had taken from the ship 
" Zeeberg " in place of another sailor after paying fifty 
guilders into the bargain ; he had driven Smith from his 
house a few days before the desertion of the latter, for what 
reason I do not know. 

The Commander of Demerary made a very good guess 
when he wrote to me on the arrival of the last transport, 
" There are again some good recruits for Orinoco." In this 
way they will not require any recruits from Europe, if they 
are so well provided by us. 

This matter is really getting more dangerous for this 
Colony every day, because the rascals are employed upon 
the so-called coast-guards and privateers of which I wrote 
in my last letter, and it has been reported to us by Spaniards 
themselves that the aforesaid deserters openly threaten that 
they will not only make a raid upon the Post in Maroco, 
but that they will also pay a visit to a few of the lowest 
plantations. Certainly not to pay their respects to the 
owners, as their mode of life in Barima plainly proves. 



The folloiving letter, comimuiicated {like that of March 21, 
775/^) by the courtesy of Dr Robert Fruifi, was probably 
addressed to the same person as the earlier document — 
Count William Bentinck'^ — a supposition ivhich its tenour 
tends to prove. The corroboration it gives to various 
matters touched upon in Storm's more official despatches 
renders it highly interesting and it has been deemed best 
to reproduce it in the original FrencJi. 

^ See p. 277. 2 See p. 276. 



DESPATCHES 589 

Rio Essequibo le Decembre, 1768. 
Monsieur, 

La derniere lettre que j'ay eu I'honneur de vous 
ecrire, a ete du 27 Juin 1767, dont la Copie est allee par 
Suriname, elle a ete pour prendre la liberte de recom- 
mander mon fils^ en votre protection. Je n'ay pas ose 
m'ingerer de reiterer mes prieres, craignant de vous ennuyer 
& d'abuser de votre patience. 

La fatale dispute entre les Provinces d'Hollande & de 
Zeelande au sujet de notre colonie qui nous cause un 
dommage considerable, nos Directeurs ayant pour ainsi 
dire les mains liees & n'osant rien faire de consequence, 
fait que tout restant icy in statu quo, tout va sans dessus 
dessous, chacun veut etre maistre & il n'y a plus ny subor- 
dination ny obeissance parmi les habitants. 

Cecy m'avoit necessite au mois de Decembre 1766^ 
d'ecrire a son Altesse Serenissime & aux Directeurs pour 
demander avec instance ma dimission. N'osant pas reiterer 
mes prieres a son Altesse Serenissime, je n'ay pas manque 
par tous les vaisseaux partis depuis ce temps la & dans toutes 
mes lettres aux Directeurs de reiterer ma demande & d'in- 
sister tres serieusement sur I'envoy d'un successeur. 

Nous voila en Decembre 1768, ainsi deux annees d'ecou- 
lees depuis ma demande, & il n'y a rien encore de fait a cat 
egard, ce qui me Chagrine extremement. 

Je ne seray pas venu a cette resolution & n'aurois pas 
insiste si fortement, s'il y avoit moyen de continuer le 
service avec honneur, deux ou trois esprits turbulents se font 

1 His youngest son, Jeremias, born Sept. 2^ i749i and the only one 
that survived him. The last letter extant signed by Storm, dated 
July jg^i i775t is a request to the Directors of the West India 

Company to appoint this son salesmaster in Demerara. It is in 
the Rijksarchief at the Hague and is evidently not Storm's own 
composition. 

2 See pp. 524, 525. 



590 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE S 

une affaire d'animer tous les petits habitants et de les 
soulever ; ils leur font accroire ce qu'ils veulent et se servent 
de la patte du chat pour tirer les chataignes du feu. Ils 
payent tous mes soins et mes veilles pour le bien et I'avance- 
ment de la colonic de la plus noire ingratitude. 

En second lieu les emplois de secretaire, du vendue- 
maistre, teneur de livres et receveur de tous les droits etant 
vacants depuis juin 1767 tout tombe sur mes epaules. 
Je dois exercer moy-meme tout cela, sans compter les 
affaires du gouvernement. Chacun de ces emplois demande 
une personne entiere. Jugez, je vous prie, de I'accable- 
ment ou je me trouve, principalement etant d'une humeur 
que je ne puis rien voir de neglige qui soit de la moindre 
consequence. 

Enfin la peine qu'il y a depuis cinq ou six annees de 
contenter. Les lettres que je regois et celle du Comman- 
deur de Demerary sont remplies de louanges et de reproches, 
et les derniers sont quelque fois tres sensibles pour des 
personnes qui se font un devoir de s'acquitter avec honneur 
de leurs emplois. 

Je n'aurois jamais cru que I'animosite entre deux 
provinces d'une meme republique put aller si loin. Cette 
annee un vaisseau de Rotterdam nomme I'Amphitrite 
apartenant a Mr A. Tulleken arriva a Demerary ayant des 
vivres et utensiles pour les plantages qui sont en correspon- 
dance avec ce monsieur. Le Commandeur en suivant ses 
ordres precis mit d'abord a bord une garde d'un corporal 
et deux soldats et fit defendre absolument au capitaine de 
ne rien charger ou decharger, et de partir des qu'il auroit 
mis son vaisseau en ordre. Vous ne scauriez croire, 
Monsieur, les reproches vifs et terribles qu'il regoit pour 
avoir permis a ce vaisseau de rester plus de trois ou quatre 
jours dans la riviere. 

Plusieurs de cette nature ont oblige le Commandeur 
aussi bien que moy de demander sa demission. 



DESPATCHES 591 

Aussi si longtemps que les choses restoit en cet etat et 
que la dispute n'etoit pas finie, je n'ay ose abuser de votre 
temps precieux, voyant que toutes mes peines etoit inutiles. 
Sans cela persuade de votre inclination et bonne volonte 
pour notre colonie, je n'aurois pas manquer, Monsieur, de 
prendre la liberte quelques fois de vous la recommander. 

Ainsi n'y pouvant plus tenir j'ay ete sur le point plus 
d'une fois de mettre bas mes emplois et de partir pour 
I'Europe^ et j'ay I'honneur de vous assurer que si je n'avois 
craint que son Altesse Ser^nissime auroit pris cette con- 
duite en mauvaise part, je I'aurois fait et principalement 
lorsque I'annee passee ayant demande a Messieurs les 
Directeurs la permission de faire un tour en Europe et cela 
m'etant accorde, quatre semaines apres me preparant pour 
partir je regus une lettre, ou on retiroit cette permission et 
on m'ordonna positivement de rester. 

Cecy m'a oblige de remettre la main a la plume et de 
prendre la liberte d'ecrire une lettre a son Altesse Serenis- 
sime pour le prier tres humblement de vouloir avoir la 
bonte de me tirer de cet esclavage, qui devient de jour en 
jour plus insupportable, et pour encore une fois recom- 
mander mon fils en sa protection, 

Oserai je, Monsieur, implorer votre protection et votre 
intercession aupres de son Altesse Serenissime? Je vous 
en auray une obligation intime pour le reste de ma vie. Je 
me flatte que vous voudrez bien avoir cette bonte pour 
moy. 

Un des articles qui me chagrinent extremement, c'est 
qu'ayant la plupart de ma famille a Demerary, lorsque 
je vais la une ou deux fois par annee et y reste six ou huit 
semaines, on m'en fait les reproches les plus sensibles et 
temoignent un mecontentement extreme. 

Je ne scaurois en penetrer la raison parce que soit que 

^ Cf. llie note on p. 565. 



592 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

je soye a Demerary, soit a Essequibo les affaires vont le 
meme train et il n'y a pas la moindre difference. On ne 
s'en aper^oit pas ny dans I'une ny dans I'autre riviere. 

Vous jugez bien, Monsieur, que mon sejour a Demerary 
quelques fois me doit etre tres agreable et me donner quel- 
que delassement. J'y ay, comme j'ay I'honneur cy dessus 
de dire, ma famille. Ma fille ainee^ avec quatre enfants ne 
peut faire ce voyage et me venir voir comme elle voudroit 
bien, elle I'a pourtant fait une fois cette annee. 

D'un autre cote cette colonie commencee sous ma 
direction qui m'a coute tant de peine et de soins commengant 
a fleurir et a avancer autant que le temps present peut le 
permettre, ayant presentement passe i6o plantages, la ou 
Essequibo n'en a qu'environ 70 au plus, et avangant de jour 
en jour, ce doit m'etre un veritable plaisir de Taller voir 
quelques fois et cela ne peut etre juge que tres naturel. 

Mais il est temps de finir cette longue lettre. Excusez 
je vous prie d'excuser la liberte que je prends et celle de 
vous assurer que je seray toute ma vie avec le plus profond 
respect, 

Monsieur, 

Votre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur 
L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



p.R.o. 474/181 

February 9, 1769. 
(Extracts) 

There is not the slightest probability of a Cartel being 
concluded with the Spanish Governor for the exchange of 
deserters on either side, whether they be whites or others, 
that being a matter to be regulated by the respective 

^ Maria Catharina, married first to van Bercheyck and afterwards 
to van den Heuvel, both Commanders of Demerara (cf. p. ss)- 



DESPATCHES 593 

Sovereigns. Moreover, whenever it is desired to enter into 
any negotiation with them this ordinarily proceeds so 
slowly on their side that, before any agreement is come to, 
one Governor's term of office expires (that being only for 
three years), and everything has to be done anew, for 
experience has taught us that the successors will in nowise 
conform to the engagements of their predecessors^ 

As regards the running away of slaves, there is no 
possibility of regulating anything advantageously before 
that subordination, which (as YY. HH. well express it in 
Your Honours' letter to the Commander in Demerara) is 
at the lowest ebb, shall be restored, and again placed on a 
good footing. So long as this is not the case, of what 
assistance are all the orders and publications of the Court 
and of myself .'' Pursuant to a Resolution of the Court 
at the last ordinary Session, there was renewed, in extremely 
stringent terms, the ordinance that no slaves should be 
allowed to leave their plantation without a certificate from 
their master, and that those which are found without one 
on the river should be brought to the Fort. This is now 
almost three months ago, and yet no single example of that 
which was ordained has transpired, and the same is the 
case with numerous other things. 

Time does not permit me to look through a chest of 
papers for a copy of the journal of J. La Chau and Elias 
Lindgreen concerning their journey through Demerara as 
far as the great fall^ (which is 80 feet high) and to the Post 
on the Upper Essequibo, where, having quarrelled. La Chau 
returned and Lindgreen proceeded further up, but was never 
heard of again. But I am as certain as I am of being alive 
that I had the honour of writing YY. HH. all the details 



^ See note on p. 65. 

2 See p. 465. La Chau clearly crossed from the Demerara to the 
Essequibo by the Indian path and was stopped at the great fall on the 
latter river (see p. 112). 



v. s. 11. 



38 



594 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

and of sending the journal, which was very well compiled ; 
thereupon YY. HH. did me the honour of replying that the 
journal had given YY. HH. much pleasure and that if La Chau 
was willing to resume his journey YY. HH. would defray the 
cost, the first having been at my expense. Such was also 
his firm intention and I had ordered and received from 
Mr P. de Bruijn all the requisite things, such as aqua fortis, 
quicksilver, &c., &c., &c., but by that time Mr Spoors had 
engaged the man as manager for the plantation " Laurentia 
Catharina" (where he remained until that gentleman's 
deaths having left it only this year), which grieved me very 
much, for besides the outlay being lost no fitter man could 
have been found for such a task. As far as I remember it 
must have been in the year 1761 or 1762-. 

That slaves are much cheaper in Surinam than here is 
perfectly certain and in the English possessions, in spite of 
big consignments to the Spanish, they cost no more than 
300 guilders a piece, whilst here we have to give six or seven 
hundred. It may be urged that purchasers are mad to pay 
this, but what are they to do ? They must have slaves, else 
they are not only at a standstill but losing money, and the 
number of those imported here is far less than half of that 
actually needed. Had there not been this dearth, what a 
Colony would this not have been ! We have been twelve 
consecutive years without the arrival of a single slave- 
ship^ ; it has been irreparable and ruinous for the Colony 
that the slave trade devolved from the Honble. Co. to 
private merchants. The Company would not have left its 
Colonies so denuded, especially as its own interests were 
involved, whilst the merchants, regarding their private 
concerns only, cared but little for the Colonies' progress. 

1 This took place on Feb. 22., lydS (P.R.O. 474/70) and was re- 
corded by Storm in the briefest words. 

^ See p. 413. ^ See remarks on pp. 299, 300. 



DESPATCHES 595 

It is all one to them as long as they make money, and I 
really believe that if the slaves were sold at a thousand 
guilders each they would still complain. 

The Assistant Gerrit van Leeuwen has reported to me 
concerning the Post in Cuyuni that he had heard from the 
fugitive Indians that a detachment of Spaniards had come 
to just above the Post and had captured and taken away 
a whole party of Indians ; that they had threatened to 
come again during the next dry season and proceed as 
far as Masseroeny to capture a party of Caribs there, and 
that they would then sail down the Masseroeny and again 
up the Cuyuni and visit the Post on their way. I imme- 
diately sent him back again (after having provided him 
with gunpowder and other things), and charged him to use 
the oars as much as possible, and to find out through the 
medium of the Indians the time about which they would 
commence their expedition and to inform me of the same, 
when, in order that they may have a fitting reception, I 
will send a commando to Mr van der Heyde upon " Old 
Duynenburg " (with whom I have already spoken on the 
matter and arranged what measures are to be taken), past 
which plantation they must go. 

From the Register YY. HH. will see that at the end of 
1768 there were thirty-four plantations more than in 1767, 
which, together with the newly allotted grounds not yet 
enumerated there, will make about fifty, and over a 
thousand slaves more. Talking the matter over this 
morning with Commandant Bakker and reckoning that 
at most only six hundred permitted slaves had come 
in, he said that it was evident that the cold weather had 
made people's consciences less elastic, and that the return 
was therefore more correct. 



38-2 



Sg6 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

P.R.O. 474/195 

February 21, 1769. 
(Extracts) 

It is certainly very hard for me, Noble and Right 
Honourable Sirs, that I must so long remain so heavily 
laden, that I cannot obtain my discharge and that there 
is such a great delay in filling up the vacant posts. Those 
who have never been in these parts cannot believe how 
troublesome and pressing my duties are ; I cannot enjoy 
the least rest, for there is nothing of any importance what- 
soever that has not to go through my hands or at least to 
be done under my supervision. Whatever I do not do 
myself I must look over, and if necessary correct, where- 
fore it is not surprising if I often forget something, which 
I hope and flatter myself YY. HH. will kindly excuse and 
not take amiss. I have learnt so much in my dealings with 
former secretaries that I trust nothing more and desire to 
see and know everything. 

It is not laziness, Noble and Right Honble. Sirs, that 
moves me to urge so repeatedly and passivi for my dis- 
charge, for it is in nowise my intention, when dismissed, to 
withdraw my services, if needed, from the Company or to 
lead an empty life. That would be an impossibility for 
me, and I am so used to being occupied that if I am but 
half a day without work (which seldom happens) I hardly 
know where I am, and did I not take up a book should 
not know what to do with myself 

But my duties are too many for one man to perform, 
and of such variety that extraordinary care is required to 
prevent getting into confusion. If I had no fixed and 
regular order in my work, no fixed time and hour for each 
sort, and not constantly a memorandum at h^nd upon 
which immediately to note everything that occurs to me 
I should never get through it. This is what the Com- 



DESPATCHES 59/ 

mander^ is lacking in, as I have often told him. With 
less to do he has infinitely more trouble to do it than I. It 
is all very well to be experienced, zealous and industrious, 
but where there is no regular order these qualities are of 
little avail. He kills himself and cannot possibly go on ; 
does as much work again as is necessary, as at present, 
when he is engaged in going round the whole river 
Demerara to collect the poll-, recognition- and sale-dues 
in arrear. This is a very tiring business, and unnecessary. 
I do not move a step and get it in better than he does ; 
but to those who do not pay I send the bailiff at their 
expense. This they know and are careful. Had Rousselet 
done the same.as I often advised him, his estate would not 
be in such confusion. But besides that he, and not his 
wife, ought to have been master, for the poor man was 
really but a cipher in his own house. 

I have taken the liberty of applying once more to His 
Serene Highness for my discharge. 

How is it possible. Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 
that YY. HH. could have thought of putting away and selling 
the macroon slaves .-' YY. HH. can certainly not have 
thought this matter over, for not only would it be very 
hard to hand over to other masters slaves who, now old 
and decrepit, have worn out their lives in the Company's 
service, but be further pleased to consider, YY. HH., that 
most, if not all of Your Honours' slaves, both at the Fort 
and on the plantations, have amongst those macroons their 
fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and that 



^ Jan Cornells van den Heuvel, third Commander of Demerara, 
entered upon his duties Feb. 12, 1766 (P.R.O. 472/202) and married 
the same year Maria Catbarina, the Director-General's elder daughter 
(see p. 33) and widow of L. L. van Bercheyck, his predecessor in 
ofifice ; he obtained his discharge, at his own request, in ly/i (see 
p. 648). 



598 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

YY. HH. might certainly rely upon losing at least three- 
fourths of Your Honours' slaves by such action, even if it 
were of no worse consequences. Besides, who would bid a 
farthing for such slaves that are naught else than a burden ? 
Personally, I would not have them as a gift, excepting 
perhaps about four, like my old cook Claertje, who was the 
first slave I possessed and who is a very good midwife. 

The matter concerning Tampoko is still very serious 
and far from clear. The Caribs who were with him, and 
who were examined by Mr van der Heyde and sent to me, 
all persist in saying exactly what they said before, without 
deviating from their words in the least. The Aruwaks, 
who were really the complainants, and three of whom (one 
being a woman) came to me whilst Tampoko was still up 
the river, and whom I had expressly ordered to come down 
again when he was here, have not reappeared, and though 
they have been told by Mr van der Heyde that they must 
absolutely come down to be confronted with Tampoko, 
they have stayed away. 

The Carib Owl who rendered such great services at the 
time of the rebellion ^ is one of those who was with Tam- 
poko, and coming down the river after his death and 
hearing of the same he began to weep, which I have never 
seen a Carib do yet ; he said Tampoko was quite innocent 
of the charge brought against him, and he could not under- 
stand why he had hanged himself unless it was for some 
other reason. Not a single Acuway has appeared to make 
any complaints 

The nation of the Caribs, YY. HH., are looked upon as 
nobles among the Indians. It is a very good thing to have 
them as allies or friends, for they render excellent services, 
but they are formidable enemies, capable of more bravery 

^ See p. 563. 2 See p. 585. 



DESPATCHES 599 

and resistance than one would think. When their principal 
or great Owls come to me, they immediately take a chair 
and sit down, and will eat and drink nothing but what 
I have myself, and they call me by no other name than 
that of " mate " or " brother." A good way up the river 
there are several villages of that nation in which white 
people have never been seen. These are well populated, 
and the inhabitants get what they want through those of 
their nation who deal with us. We can rely upon them as 
friends in case of need. My brother-in-law, van Ber- 
cheyck, who is not afraid of trifles, once visited a village 
of that kind up the Weyne, but he told me that he was 
never so much afraid in his life as when he saw 200 Caribs 
surrounding him armed with their bows and arrows, and 
although it was an extraordinarily profitable journey, and 
he had obtained about 50 hammocks and two slaves, and 
had been invited by the Chief to return in the following 
year, he declared to me that he would not undertake it 
again for four times as much. 

Much trouble has been taken to come to an agreement 
with Mr Clarke's delegates^ but in vain, and according to 
what he wrote me I imagine that he will be far from 
satisfied with the arrangement proposed. I do not think, 
however, he will move any further in the matter, but if he 
does it cannot be disadvantageous to the Colony, and that 
has always been my opinion. That gentleman is gradually 
getting rid of all his possessions, having now only two 
plantations, " Het Loo " and " De Vriendschap " in Deme- 
rara, " Hampton Court," "The Golden Grove," "The Bee- 
hive " and " The Garden of Eden " being already sold. 



^ Concerning payment of his claim for sending assistance at the 
time of the Berbice revolt. Cf. pp. 43, 44 and 483. 



600 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Never, Your Honours, have I had such pressure of 
business as now. On the 3rd we had the slave auction 
and before and after that auction people coming in for 
their accounts ; on the 4th Capt. Cotton's auction, and 
during that sale my office was as full of people as it could 
hold, so that the whole day long I was making out accounts, 
receiving payment and giving receipts. It was impossible 
to enter anything in the books and I had to put everything 
together in my desk and stay away from church next day 
in order to book it, for several bills having been drawn and 
only the sums noted, without any why or wherefor, I did 
not trust my memory to wait any longer. Besides, on the 
5th the second instalment of the "Zeeberg" was due, and 
this too I paid on that day. 

On the night between the 5th and 6th of this month, 
a Creole carpenter named Elias belonging to YY. HH., the 
negro Kleyn Jan, my two hunters and a female Creole 
belonging to de Scharde, ran away, for what reason I can- 
not imagine, because the two hunters have never suffered 
the slightest ill-treatment and did just what they liked, 
whilst Elias, having been ill, had not worked for two years, 
and now that he is better runs away. I have sent informa- 
tion of this to the Post at Maroco and have also sent 
immediate warning to Mr van der Heyde, because I feel 
certain that they took the road to Cuyuni in order to 
reach the Spanish Missions that way. 



P.R.O. 474/200 

February 21, 1769. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

I have just received a report from Mr van der 

Heyde that our runaways have taken the road to Cuyuni and 

are therefore lost. The Caribs have reported to that gentle- 



DESPATCHES 6oi 

man that the Spaniards have established a Mission not far 
above the Post in that river, and yet another in a creek 
a Httle higher up, flowing into the Cuyuni, both of which 
have been strongly manned ^ 

It is finished now, Your Honours ; neither Postholders 
nor Posts are of any use now. The slaves can now proceed 
at their ease to the Missions without fear of being pursued, 
and we shall in a short time have entirely lost possession 
of the River Cuyuni. 

Must we allow all this to go on before our eyes .-' The 
natural result of this must infallibly be that the River 
Essequibo will gradually be ruined and abandoned. If we 
had shown our teeth when, contrary to the law of nations, 
they attacked and destroyed the Post in Cuyuni, and when 
we had the power in our hands, it would never have gone 
so far as this, but all action was then forbidden me. The 
proverb says, " Whoever turns himself into a sheep will be 
eaten by the wolfl" 

I have thought it well to give YY. HH. notice in haste 
of this occurrence so untoward for the Colony, 

Remaining with deep respect and esteem. 

Your Honours' 

most humble and obedient servant, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 

P.S. — I have had to open this again, because, just as 
the letter bag was being closed, I received a report that 
five more slaves have run away. I fear that this will now 
go on like wildfire. 



* See note on p. 90. 

^ Die zig selve tot een schaep inaekt word door den wolf opgegeten 



602 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 474/203 

March 3, 1769. 
(Extract) 

To-day, February 25, " De Laurens en Maria" has not 
yet arrived and we are beginning to be uneasy about it, 
but as that vessel is an especially bad sailer hopes are 
entertained that she will still turn up. 

I hope to utilize the time between now and the Court 
meeting in putting into order whatever else there is left, for 
I flatter myself that my humble petition for discharge will 
at length have been granted and that I shall see my suc- 
cessor arrive within three or four months. 

The chief part of the work is now done ; the Secretary's 
office put in order, the accounts looked up and everything 
that concerns the two last Secretaries noted. When the 
books and accounts demanded of Mr Spoors' heirs have 
been delivered, the matters concerning Mrs Rousselet's 
estate settled (which will possibly be done at the April 
meeting), and Your Honours' commands communicated to 
the burgher-officers little or nothing more than the usual 
course of business will be left for my successor and the 
new secretary to do. 

But YY. HH. cannot imagine what trouble and worry 
it has cost me to bring matters so far ; it was however all 
cheerfully done and I was even pleased to have an oppor- 
tunity at the end of my service of giving YY. HH. proofs of 
my attachment and fidelity to the Honourable Company. 

In my second letter by the " Vrouw Anna," I had the 
honour to give YY. HH. a hasty account of the dangerous 
position of the River Cuyuni ; since then 1 have given 
express commands that one of the two assistants there 
should proceed up the river as far as possible, or as far as 
he could go without any danger ; that he should make a 
very careful inspection of the situation of the Spanish 
Missions, and that he should get the Indians to procure 



DESPATCHES 603 

him an exact account of their strength and further par- 
ticulars. If possible, he was to bring down one or more of 
the Indians living at those Missions, and I also gave orders 
that they should be well on their guard at the Post against 
surprise parties (which, according to all appearances, will 
very probably be undertaken before long), and that they 
were to come and report to me as speedily as possible. 

The Creole Elias is one of the four slaves belonging to 
YY. HH. who have run away ; he is acquainted with all the 
roads there, because those who are half-free have all lived 
up^ in Cuyuni for many years past. 

At the old Mission, which is situated about two or 
three hours' distance from the banks of the Cuyuni, in a 
creek flowing into that river, there are now, as far as I am 
aware, the following slaves belonging to the Honourable 
Company : — 

The Creole Ariaen, carried off as a prisoner at the 
former raid upon the Post, a competent smith. 

The Creole Elias, a carpenter. 

The Creole Jambi. 

The red slaves Pouw, Jantje, and Coffy, 

and the negro, Kleyn Jan, 

together with a female slave belonging to de Scharde. 

What slaves belonging to colonists may be there is still 
unknown to me, nor do I know whether the three belonging 
to Bulskouw and the two belonging to the widow Langen- 
berg who ran away a few days ago have gone in that 
direction. 

But this is certain, that the road for the runaways is 
now quite open and free, it being impossible for the Post 
in Cuyuni to stop them, there being a number of inland 
paths ; nor can we be warned in any way by Indians, there 
being no more of these in that river. They did begin to 



^ The original has h'neden = ''^do\vn," but we find that term 
occasionally used in this way as a synonym of ^oven = '^^up." 



604 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

settle there again when the Post was re-established, but the 
raid made by the Spaniards last year, when a large party 
of Indians were captured and taken away, has filled the 
rest with terror, and they are gradually drawing off. 

Mr de Rapper was fortunate enough to capture a slave 
belonging to Zeagers, and two belonging to J. B. Struys, 
who had deserted and fled up the river, and whom he has 
restored to their masters, with the exception of one belong- 
ing to Struys, who hanged himself as soon as he was 
discovered. 

But this occurs only once in a thousand times, and was 
only due, I believe, to their ignorance of the road. 

There is not a single negro belonging to the Honour- 
able Company who is not perfectly acquainted with the 
road, Your Honours' plantation of "Duynenburg" being 
situated at the corner of Cuyuni. 



[To J. C. van den Heuvel, Commander of Demerara.] 

P.R.O. 474/214 

Zeelandia, March 10, 1769. 
My dear Son, 

I have this moment received a report from 

Mr Buisson that the Spaniards are carrying off the Indians 

from Maroco and have made themselves masters of the 

Post. What will come of this } If the ships are not yet 

gone, inform Their Honours of this and send them this 

letter. Order the lighthouse keeper and the plantations 

below to be on their guard ; the plantations here have 

already been warned by Buisson. I have no direct report 

yet. I shall send a letter via Barbadoes or Saint Eustatius 

as soon as I have a direct report. 

I remain, in haste, &c., 

Your affectionate father, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



DESPATCHES 605 

P.R.O. 474/215 

March 15, 1769. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

I have written, by special messenger, to the 
Commander in Demerara, and ordered him to warn his 
lighthouse service and all the inhabitants below to be well 
on the look-out, and at the same time that if, contrary to 
expectation, the ships the " Vrouw Anna " or " Geertruida 
Christiana" had not put out to sea, to send YV. HH. my 
letter to him, as the time and circumstances permitted me 
to write not even to YY. HH., more especially as the bad 
news received was transmitted by no other channel than 
that of a free Indian, from whom no certain or sure infor- 
mation is obtainable. 

In my previous despatches I had the honour from time 
to time to inform YY. HH. of the secret doings of the 
Spaniards and especially in my second letter by the 
" Vrouw Anna," and in my letter by the " Geertruida 
Christiana," I wrote circumstantially concerning the fatal 
and, for the Colony, most highly perilous news of the 
River Cuyuni. My opinion has always been that they 
would gradually acquire a foothold in Cuyuni, and try to 
obtain the mastery of the river, as they now practically 
have done at the end of the past year\ 

^ The Directors' reply, dated Oct. g, lydg, ran : — 
"But we are at the same time of opinion that that river is not in 
the slightest danger, and the river of Essequibo as little, through the 
latest enterprises of the Spaniards, which, in private letters from a itw 
individuals in the Colony to persons in the Province of Holland, hav-e 
been discussed at great length as of the most dangerous consequences : 
and your own letters of the 3rd and 15th June say not a single word 
about the Spaniards, just as if they had never existed. 

" In order nevertheless to place ourselves beyond reproach in this 
respect, there shall be sent by the ship "de Zwerver," skipper D. 
Plutman, the 25 recruits promised in our letter of the 24th July last, or 
in any case as many fit persons as we shall be able to get ; and, to 
remedy the complaints made in your aforesaid letter of the 12th May 



6o6 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

But I should as soon have expected heaven to fall, as 
that they, in so high-handed a manner, openly (as if in 
open warfare), in breach of the law of nations, in breach 
of all Treaties of Alliance with His Catholic Majesty, 
should attack us from another side, and have the audacity 
to go to work as if they were Sovereigns of this whole 
coast. 

On March lo I received two consecutive letters from 
Councillor M. Buisson, which gave me information that an 
Indian named Adahoure, from Pomaroon, had come to his 
house and related to him that the Spaniards, with two 
Capuchin Fathers, a detachment of soldiers, and a large 
party of armed Waykiers^ were capturing and taking away 

about the lack of sufficient muskets in the Colony, you shall receive 
200 muskets, 200 cartridge-boxes, 200 cutlasses, and further ammuni- 
tion, &c., specified in Resolution inclosed sub lit. C, to which we 
refer, inasmuch as it states the purpose for which we send those arms 
and ammunition, and likewise instructions as to the care which we 
wish to be taken thereof; not doubting but you will have this duly 
regarded. 

" But at this opportunity we cannot omit inquiring what becomes 
and has become of the muskets, &c., of all those soldiers who during 
these last few years have deserted, been discharged, or died ; also, 
what has become of the 50 muskets and cutlasses which we sent you 
in 1762, and of which you will find mention in our letter of the 29th 
November of that year. 

"We at least are not aware that they have ever been accounted for 
to the Company, which, however, should be done every year ; for 
which reason we also trust that they are still at hand. 

" For the rest, we shall try to send later a few more Protestant 
or Lutheran recruits ; and other means of help we do not know, but, 
to speak frankly, we can for the present see no such great necessity 
therefor." 

1 The only hypothetical identification to be made in this case is 
with the Guaicas mentioned in a Spanish document of //Jc? {Bras. 
Arb. Brit. Ann. i. p. 66), the Uaicas spoken of by Ribeiro de Sampaio 
{ib. i. p. 132), the Oaycas alluded to by Gama Lobo {ib. i. p. 192) and 
the Uaycas of De Souza (whose work, written in 1822^ was published 
in the Revista Trimensal (Ser. ii. torn. 3) in 1848). Each writer 
speaks of these as dwelling on the R. Branco or its tributaries, but 
occasional migrations were not at all rare. 



DESPATCHES 607 

as prisoners all the free Indians between Barima and 
Pomaroon, and that they had actually overpowered the 
Company's trading place Marocco, and that they were now 
there, but that he had as yet no further knowledge of the 
circumstances. On the nth came the assistant from 
Marocco with a letter from the Postholder. From his 
written Report, copy whereof is here annexed, vv. HH. will 
perceive to what pitch the insolence of our neighbours goes. 

YY. HH. can now see what consequences indulgence and 
patience have ; this causes me no surprise. I have long 
foreseen and expected it : however, I could not presume 
that they would have dared to undertake so bold a deed. 

The Postholder has behaved himself very well ; he did 
not run away, though they tried hard to make him do so, 
but remained firm at his post, and asked for a certificate 
from the Capuchin Fathers, which they have given him, 
much to my surprise, as hereby all denials and evasions 
were cut off 

Copy of this also goes annexed hereto. 

They have captured and taken away all our people that 
were on the sea-coast. The salter of " Luyxbergen " has 
luckily escaped them, but his Indians, his vessels, two large 
canoes and three single canoes, which he had got by barter, 
they have taken away. He of "Duynenberg" returned 
early in the morning. 

The alarm in the river is great. If they come to 
Pomaroon, as they have threatened, they can in three 
hours reach Essequibo overland, and can ruin our lower- 
most plantations. 

May I ask once more whether all this must be borne 
quietly, and whether Your Honours' patience has not yet 
come to an end ? With me it is Patientia lesa tandem 
furor fit^. 

^ Furor Jit laesa saepius patietitia. Publilius Syrus, 203. 



6o8 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

What can I do with such a small garrison ? The 
burghers are not yet ready for service — the letters to the 
burgher officers calling them together on the last day of 
March have been sent off — the general meeting is at hand, 
and there is periculum in mora — three clerks are continually 
at work writing commissions, instructions, and orders, but 
everything is so spread about that it will take twelve or 
fourteen days before everyone can be warned. 

With the exception of the rebellion of Berbice this is 
one of the most critical matters I have been in during my 
long years of service. Had I the power and were my 
hands free I should not feel embarrassed, and would be 
quite willing to risk my grey head in the affair. 

With this same opportunity I have the honour to send 
His Highness a circumstantial report, and will send copies 
by way of Surinam or Saint Eustatius\ This I hope to be 
able to dispatch over Barbadoes. 



^ Upon receipt thereof the Prince wrote as follows : — 

To the Representative and Directors of the Chartered West India 
Company, in the Presidial Chamber, Zeeland. 

Honourable Sirs, 

We have duly received your missive of the 26th of last 
month, whereby you transmitted a letter addressed to Us by the 
Director-General in Essequibo, Mr L. Storm van 's Gravesande, 
concerning certain enterprises of the Spaniards from Orinoco against 
two of the Company's Posts in the aforesaid Colony.... 

From the letter of the aforesaid Director-General We have learned 
with much regret the danger to which the Colony of Essequibo is 
exposed, with its slender means of defence, through the hostilities of 
the Spaniards ; and as We judge the preservation of the American 
possessions in general, and that of the Colony aforesaid in particular, 
of the most extreme moment for the Republic, We therefore fully 
approve your praiseworthy intention of addressing yourselves re- 
garding this matter to Their High Mightinesses, and of making to 
that high authority such request and urgent appeal as is indicated in 
your letter ; and it is Our opinion that this should be done, the 
earlier the better, and without loss of time... and We will further not 



DESPATCHES 609 

My express, has just come back from Demerary. The 
Commander informs me that Captain VV. Dryber had 
closed his letter-bag and set sail four hours ago ; that he 
had immediately followed him and overtaken him at 
Looft's place, and that he had written YY. HH. and had 
sent my letter, for which he has taken a receipt from the 
aforesaid Captain, so that I hope YY. HH. will already have 
had a general report before the receipt of this. 

I have at present not a moment's rest, what with the 
colonists, the letters, and the Indians, and in addition to 
this, all the accounts which have to be made up by the 3rd 
of April. Your Honours, I do not know how to get 
through it all. 

I hope and do not doubt that YY. HH. will use every 
effort with Their High Mightinesses to bring about the 
lasting preservation of Your Honours' territory and juris- 
diction. 

When ready to conclude this [letter], the Assistant 
Postholder, Schreuder, arrived from the Post Arinda up 
the Essequibo, bringing with him the Common Chief or 
Great Owl of the Caribs up in Essequibo, and reporting to 
me that the Spaniards of Oronoque have sent the Chief of 
the Cerekons^ (a tribe dwelling in Oronoque), named Mari- 
purma, with his people, in order to rob or slay the Caribs ; 
that they had met the Postholder Jansse in Rupununy 

omit efficaciously to second with Our favourable support your request 
and urgent appeal before Their High Mightinesses. 

Wherewith We commend you to God's Holy keeping. 

Your well-wishing friend, 

W., Prince of Orange. 
Soestdijk, July 7, 1769. 

* This is the only reference made by Storm to this tribe. They 
may have been the " Semicorals," alluded to by John Scott (see p. 176) 
just a century earlier, clearly the " Serekongs," mentioned by Richard 
Schomburgk as inhabiting the sources of the Massaruni in 1842 
{Reisen in Britisch Guiana^ ii. pp. 237 and 253). 

V. S. II. 39 



6lO STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

returning from the Crystal Mountain, and had slain him 
with all the Caribs which were with him, so that we are 
now embarrassed on all sides. 

The Chief of the Caribs has come to request from me 
permission to attack and capture this Maripurma, not 
having dared to do this because he is below the Post near 
the Acuways, whom he is also annoying and molesting 
very much. 

I have answered him he may freely do so, because a 
murderer ought to be followed up anywhere, on the express 
condition that he is not to do the least harm to the 
Acuways, which he promised, saying he was assured the 
Acuways would rather help than hinder him. 

The barque to Barbadoes being on the point of sailing, 
and being obliged to send a copy of this as well as of the 
letter to His Highness to Demerary to-morrow, where a 
boat is lying ready to go to Surinam, I am obliged to close 
with expressions of respect, &c. 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



P.R.O. 474/222 



April 4, 1769. 



(Extracts) 

March 16. — The chief of the Caribs, who is now here, 
goes up the river to-day. He has promised me to attack 
the murderers of the Postholder, and to hold all his people 
in readiness in case we might have need of them. Com- 
mandant Backer told him this morning that he would like 
to come up the river, and asked him whether he would 
then let him be master. He answered, " No, I am master 
of the Caribs. You can be master of the whites and of the 
other nations, and then we can together become masters of 
everything." I let him see one of the silver ring-collars 



DESPATCHES 6ll 

which I still have, and promised to give it to him, and to 
give him some clothes (of which they are very fond) if he 
behaved well. 

But, YY. HH., allow me to ask what is now to be done 
to get food for Your Honours' slaves ? The salting is now 
entirely stopped, not alone in the mouth of the Orinocque, 
where we had carried on the fishery from time immemorial, 
but there are neither canoes nor corrials to be got for the 
plantations or the Fort along the whole of the sea-coast 
and we are shut in on all sides. I must now, nolens volens 
buy from the English, or allow Your Honours' slaves to go 
without rations, and what the results of that would be YY. 
HH. can easily imagine ; and if I buy I shall have to draw 
upon YY. HH. I already owe the North Americans more 
than a thousand guilders, and have made this a charge 
upon the product of the sales, having, so to say, got in little 
or none of the cash. YY. HH. are quite right in recom- 
mending me to be economical and to draw little or nothing; 
but to allow the slaves to suffer want would be a very 
wrong kind of economy, and have ruinous results. There 
being nothing on the plantations and the out-runners 
having come back empty-handed after exposing themselves 
to the greatest danger and losing their men and boats, I 
must to-day send for cod from Barbados, since I hear that 
they are still at a moderate price. There is no more flour 
in the factory, the last having been distributed on the i8th 
of March, and there is still enough meat for three distribu- 
tions. How matters stand in Demerary I hope to hear 
this week from the Commander, who has written me that 
he is coming up. I have just written to him by Mr Grant 
to buy six or eight casks of flour for the factory at the sale 
which is to be held in Demerary on the 21st, 



39—2 



6l2 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 474/229 

Demerara, May 12, 1769. 
(Extracts) 

What a pity it would be if such a flourishing Colony 
(such as this is now growing) were to be ruined by rogues 
and pirates, as must inevitably be the case if no powerful 
measures are adopted to resist the pirates from Orinoco 
and make them abandon their expeditions ! 

According to the last reports from the Postholder and 
from the Caribs, they are still all in Barima, having sent 
their prisoners to Orinocque, and they threaten to come 
again at an early date, and not only carry off all the 
Indians from Pomeroon, but even attack and plunder our 
plantations. 

It is not enough for them to protect our runaway slaves 
and to refuse to give them up, but they arm these very 
slaves and use them to attack and plunder us, for it is 
known with certainty, YY. HH., that the runaway slaves 
from " Aegtekerke " were with them, and that it was they 
who most urged them on. 

Yesterday evening I received a despatch from Richter, 
the manager, informing me that an Owl with twelve Caribs 
had come to the Fort from Barima, and that he had 
considered it best to send him immediately to me, so that 
I might hear his report myself. 

The said Owl being narrowly examined by me, through 
the medium of a very good interpreter, told me that the 
Spaniards in Barima, having been reinforced by another 
vessel, had at last attacked the Caribs themselves, captured 
several of the same, carried them off, burnt their houses and 
ruined their plantations ; that they continued to make raids 
all around and along the sea-coast, and that they were 
making preparations to come to Pomeroon, and that they 
said that when they had finished there they would come to 



DESPATCHES 613 

Essequibo and attack the plantations and even the Fort 
itself. 

I regard the latter as a vain Spanish boast, but they 
are quite capable of doing all the rest. 

Things have now actually reached such a stage that we 
can return violence with violence, but is it not a sad thing, 
YY. HH., that we have such a weak garrison and not six 
men among them upon whom we can place the least 
reliance? To send a small detachment of twelve or six- 
teen men down would really be to risqiier le tojit pojir le 
tout, for if they were all disloyal, as is only to be expected 
from Frenchmen and Catholics, and went over to the 
Spaniards, all would be lost, because not the least reliance 
is to be placed upon the citizens. 

So that, since the outlook is daily becoming blacker 
for the Colony, it is high time to make some provision, 
and as there is great danger of total ruin it is highly 
necessary that powerful and speedy measures should be 
adopted to prevent the same. 

I asked the Carib Owl this morning whether the Caribs 
were no longer men, and whether they had no hands with 
which to defend themselves, whereupon he replied, " Indeed, 
they have ; but the Spaniards have guns, and we only 
bows and arrows. Give us muskets, powder, and shot, and 
we will show you what we are." Even had I been inclined 
I could not have done so, having no further supply of these 
than just sufficient for the garrison \ 

The Postholder of Arinda, Jansse, who, according to 
report, had been killed, has fortunately escaped, and has 
arrived at the Fort. 

He is the first of the Postholders who has carried out 
my orders and been to the Crystal Mine up in Ripenowini. 

^ See Directors' reply Oct. p, iy6g (pp. 605, 606). 



6l4 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

The assistant Bont writes me that he has brought some 
large pieces of crystal with him ; that he has told him that 
he has been to the place where the Brazilian diamonds are 
found ; that the Indians would on no account allow him to 
dig or to search there, and that the place is close to the 
Crystal Mine. This corresponds with what was told me by 
Mr del Torres de Bandeyra, the second person in Brazil, 
who some years ago stayed in Essequibo at my house about 
three weeks ; who, being introduced by me to Mr Clarke, 
departed by his aid to England and thence to Lisbon, 
whence I received a letter of thanks from him, mentioning 
also that having settled his affairs satisfactorily, he was 
about to depart for Brazil in his previous capacity^ 

This gentleman told me that there was not a single 
Portuguese who knew where the diamond mine was ; that 
it having been their intention to send out one of their 
viceroys to discover the same, the Indians had threatened 
that if a Portuguese went in that direction the whole 
nation would immediately break up and " trek " further 
inland, by which they would lose the whole of this advan- 
tage, &c. Whereupon the expedition was not only aban- 
doned, but exploration was strictly forbidden. 

I have written to Essequibo and charged the Post- 
holder to come to me here in Demerary as soon as he had 
rested a bit, in order that I may examine him narrowly 
concerning this discovery, this being a matter of great 
importance which ought not to be overlooked. 

By this we have unexpectedly and undesignedly become 
acquainted with a place of which the possessors of those 
precious stones have hitherto had no knowledge them- 
selves. 

I shall postpone my further remarks concerning this 
until I have spoken to and examined the Postholder. 

^ Cf. pp. 414 and 464. 



DESPATCHES 615 

The infirmity from which I have been suffering since 
January 3 has not yet left me and I find myself getting 
weaker daily, so that work is a burden and trouble to me, 
for I can only turn to it at intervals. It is therefore getting 
high time for me to be released from it all, else I fear, not 
without good reason, that I shall, nolens volens, have to give 
it up altogether, for ad ivipossibile nemo tenetur. 

Yesterday I received a letter per express from Com- 
mandant Backer, which I take the liberty of inclosing. 

In this YV. HH. will find the report from Mr van der 
Heyde concerning Cuyuni. If the news be true (which I 
can scarcely believe) then things are going badly, and there 
remains no other alternative but to adopt measures of 
violence or reprisal. The depredations of the Spanish from 
Barima to Pomeroon continuing daily we must acknow- 
ledge that they are capable of anything and that we must 
expect all kinds of violent and piratical acts from them. 
The poor colonists on the west coast below Essequibo are in 
a terrible state of alarm and are on the look-out night and 
day. If the regulations were strictly and literally observed 
there would not be such great fear of those pirates in the 
river, but everything is done in such a slow and lazy 
manner that I really lose all patience. Here is a matter in 
which they are threatened with total ruin ; one would think 
that ought to wake them up. 

I have written to the Commandant to have recourse to 
every possible aid in investigating this ; and as soon as I 
have trustworthy information about it I shall (please God!) 
have the honour to report to YY. HH. as speedily as possible 
by the first opportunity that presents itself, whether via 
Barbadoes, St Eustace, &c. 



6l6 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 474/241 

June 3, 1769. 
(Extracts) 

There has not been a single Postholder at Arinda who 
has not been ordered by me to go to the Cr}'stal Mine 
(here called the Calikko Mountain) and to find out all 
particulars concerning it. Not one of them has done so, 
they having always put forth various pretexts — at one time 
that there was high water, at another that the natives were 
at war, and at yet another something else, but the true 
cause was their ungrounded fear of the savage tribes living 
in those parts. 

Jansse having also received this order in his instructions 
commenced his journey as soon as the water up in the river 
had come to a standstill and proceeded up the River 
Ripenowini, accompanied by a good interpreter, who under- 
stood the language of the Macoussis well. 

It took him quite two months to get there^. YY. HH. 

1 The course of Jansse's journey is indicated on map No. 5 in the 
Atlas to the British Case in the Arbitration with Brazil: it is also 
discussed in the text of that Case (p. 35). He clearly took the route 
followed by Dutch traders ever since the early years of the century 
and notably by Horstman (see pp. 167-174). The path has often 
since been followed by British explorers and officials and we can 
easily go with him in imagination from the post at the mouth of the 
Rupununi, up that river in low water, over sandbanks and other 
obstacles, till he reached the savannahs near Pirara: here he would 
meet the Macusis who still live on the upper Rupununi and Takutu, 
and very quickly get into relation with their neighbours the Wapisanas 
who lived and still live immediately West and South of the Macusis. 
The Mahu on both sides of which they are said to live is that part of 
the Takutu beyond its junction with the Ireng or Mahu proper: up to 
Schomburgk's time that reach was usually confused with the Mahu, 
and is said to look more like a continuation of it : as to its connexion 
with the southern rivers the information given to Storm was quite 
accurate. Clearly the rocks and cliffs to which the Wapisanas retired 
were then, as now, the Canaku mountains. See also observations on 
p. 79 and the route marked in colour on our Map. 



DESPATCHES 617 

must not believe that the journey is such a long one, but 
when with Indians the longest day's journey is four [Dutch] 
miles, and then every three or four days they have a rest 
day, and at every tribe one comes to one is obliged to stop 
for a few days. A drought of six months has made the 
waters fall so low up there that in many places he could 
not get his boat along, but had to drag it. 

On arriving at the Macoussis he hired an interpreter who 
spoke the language of the Wapissannes, which tribe lives 
near the Crystal Mine on both sides of the River Maho. It 
is the same tribe which a few years ago (fifteen or sixteen 
years if I remember rightly) killed Louis Marcan, with two 
other whitest I had prophesied this to him before his 
departure, that Frenchman being much too hasty and 
excitable to be able to deal with wild Indians. 

The river, called the Maho on d'Anville's Map, is 
called Mejou here by the Indians. There is one of the 
same name up in Cuyuni ; whether it is the same river or 
another I do not know-. It flows into the Rio Branco, the 
latter into the Rio Negro, which again has communication 
with the Amazon and Orinoco. According to the old 
descriptions and traditions, the Maho must have its source 
in the famous Lake of Parima, if such a lake exists. The 
river being quite as broad and deep as Demerary, according 
to the description of the Postholder, it is not easy to 
understand whence it gets its waters, since it cannot extend 
very far inland, because the Rio Negro cuts through the 
whole country from the Amazon to the Orinoco. 

The Postholder coming to the Wapissannes, who had 
not seen a white man since the affair with Marcan, and who 
were thus in want of all European things, was received 

1 This was in ly^j ; see p. 302. 

'^ For the identity of the "Mejou" in Cuyuni see notes on pp. 90 
and 307. The one visited by Jansse is mentioned by Storm in 1^64 
(see p. 462). 



6l8 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

exceptionally well, and coming to their Chief and seeing 
about ten muskets there, but no powder or shot, he pre- 
sented him with a bottle of powder and some small shot, 
by which he at once gained his entire friendship. 

This tribe lives in the savannahs by day, but at night 
they retire to inaccessible rocks and cliffs, where they have 
their houses and caves, all the approaches to which, however 
steep, are still defended by palisades through fear of the 
powerful tribe of the Manoas or Magnauws, with whom 
they are always at war. 

He also found there the tribe of the Parhavianes who 
were still living up in Essequibo in my time, and who, 
being too greatly molested by the Caribs, removed thither. 

This place being his destination he stopped there for a 
few weeks and carefully investigated everything. When he 
wished to dig up the crystal which grows there in many 
places in a red dry soil, the natives would not allow him to 
do so, saying that they would give him crystal enough ; he 
did bring some with him, but only small pieces, with the 
exception of one as large as half a fist. 

They said to him, " You are looking for something else 
than crystal, but that you will not find here, but with our 
neighbours across the Maho, who sell those stones to the 
Portuguese." He replied, " I will willingly pay for them, 
too ; I want nothing for nothing, and shall go there." This 
they prevented him from doing, saying, " They are a 
wicked tribe, they will kill you ; but we will manage to get 
some of those stones for you." 

The Postholder thinks with me that this opposition 
only springs from trade jealousy, they being afraid that 
they would lose that trade and that it would all go to their 
neighbours, or that they only pretended it was so, and that 
they knew the mines themselves, especially since they 
strictly forbade him to search or to dig ; there was nothing 
to be done here by force, so that he was obliged to be 



DESPATCHES 619 

satisfied with noting everything narrowly and with wander- 
ing about the place, which they allowed him to do, but 
always with a few young Wapissannes by his side. The 
land there consists mostly of high mountains and rocks, 
bare, but wooded here and there with small shrubs, and 
great savannahs. 

In those savannahs he saw large tracts, quite bare, 
without the least bit of grass, upon which tracts there lay 
every morning in the dry season (as it was when he was 
there) something white, like a hoar-frost or snow ; this the 
Indians gathered in the morning, mixed with water and 
strained, getting from it by subsequent evaporation a fine 
white salt which they used themselves and bartered with 
their neighbours. This is undoubtedly the pure, natural 
nitrum or saltpetre^ 

He went a little lower into great woods of cinnamon 
trees, some of the bark of which he brought with him, but 
it was taken from old trees and the inner and outer bark 
being all in one was sharp and unpleasant. A single piece, 
taken from a young tree, although of both barks, was as 
good in smell and flavour as any from Ceylon and much 
better than that we generally get here. 

This having been only an attempt and the way being 
now opened, because he may now come there welcome and 
free, which is a good beginning, I have given him full and 
circumstantial written instructions, and also verbal ones as 
far as possible : 

1°. How the emeralds were found in the Crystal Mines 



1 In i8g3 Mr C. A. Lloyd collected some of the soil from the 
depressions in the Pirara savannah ; it is a black sandy humus of 
a saltish taste with small visible crystals. Professor J. B. Harrison, 
who analysed a sample of the earth, states that it contains chlorides 
of sodium and magnesium and sulphates of calcium and magnesium 
and is similar in respect to its salts to the subsoils near the coast. 
{Timehri, June^ i8gj.) 



620 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

up in Orinoco according to the unanimous testimony of the 
Spaniards and the writers on precious stones. 

2°. The rough appearance, weight, and characteristics 
of diamonds as they were explained to me in the year 1750 
by Mr Blank in Amsterdam upon the order of His late 
Serene Highness of glorious memory. 

3°. An order to bring away stones in which there 
appeared to be minerals, because although I am aware that 
few gold mines are exploited with any profit it is still 
certain that there are veins of gold in the mountains, and 
that gold is found in dust and in grains in the creeks and 
water-falls that run down from them, and that it is easily 
collected, though this is not so with silver mines. Besides 
this, I have seen some collars of the Indian Owls which 
make me believe that platina or white gold is found in 
those regions. 

4°- To collect the second bark of cinnamon trees three 
or four years old when they are in full sap, and how to dry 
them, &c. 

5°. To bring some fresh Acuway nuts, with all their 
husks. 

6°. To bring a sample of the Indian salt. 

And, further, a few instructions how to behave, and to 
try and obtain, in a friendly manner, permission from the 
Wapissannes to cross the Maho, and go to the neighbouring 
tribes. 

He has again departed from here, and as soon as the 
water, which on account of the continual rains is extra high, 
begins to fall a little, he will again go up the river and 
immediately recommence his journey up the Ripenowini. 
I hope from the bottom of my heart that this may be 
successful and of great profit to the Honourable Company. 

I have promised him that if he happens to make 
discoveries of any importance, he will be generously re- 
warded by YY. HH. 



DESPATCHES 62 1 

To-day (May 13) it is exactly thirty-one years since I 
arrived in this Colony and next October (if I live) it will 
be thirty-two years since I had the honour of taking the 
oath as Secretary in Your Honours' Assembly — a very long 
time when looking forward, but like a dream when past. 
I take the liberty of submitting to Your Honours' con- 
sideration and judgment whether the time has not yet come 
for me to enjoy a little rest. 

The Houbabboe Company being now engaged in 
regulating and putting all into order will apply to the 
Court of Policy at its next meeting. They have compiled 
a chart of Houbabboe Creek which I saw this morning ; 
from this I perceive that if the undertaking succeeds, all the 
plantations lying below that creek and all those on the sea- 
coast will have their value raised by fully a half 



P.R.O. 474/245 

June 15, 1769. 
(Extract) 

The planters do not provide artizan slaves ^ and those of 
the Honble. Co. are so few in number and so advanced in age 
that they are unable to perform half the work required to 
be done on Flag Island. 

When I undertook Fort Zeelandia things were quite 
different. There were then fully over twenty artizan slaves, 
including the Creoles, and four slaves from each of the four 
sugar plantations always at the Fort ; with these something 
could be done. 

When it pleased YY. HH. to make that great reduction- 
and to give up the brick-works (upon whose advice I do 

1 For works undertaken by the administration. 

2 In 1731. See pp. 37, 410 and 412. 



622 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

not know or at least am not sure) YY. HH. no doubt thought 
it would be a great advantage to the Company. The 
contrary becomes daily more perceptible and I should not 
like to go into figures to prove what loss the Company has 
suffered by it, for it would surprise one, but I defy anyone 
to show that it has profited the Company twenty-five 
guilders. Not half a hogshead more of sugar has been 
produced and what loss the lack of bricks has caused may 
easily be imagined — " Luyxbergen " alone has suffered 
largely. 



P.R.O. 474/248 

July 31, 1769. 
(Extract) 

Having written thus far the letter-bag of " De Vliegende 
Visch " was brought me from Demerara and therein I 
found three of Your Honours' esteemed letters, all of 
May I. I am neither strong enough nor able to answer 
them circumstantially and shall only reply, if I possibly 
can, to a few points contained therein. 

I have long feared and foreseen that I should finally 
succumb under my burden, wherefore in all my letters to 
YY. HH. I begged passim for the favour of my discharge, 
for it is impossible for one person to do alone what I am 
obliged to do. Although acting ad interim as sales-master 
brings me in a fair amount and it is generally held that 
money sweetens labour this is not so with me. Never 
having been mercenary, and satisfied with my daily bread 
(for which alone we pray) that brings me no relief. 

Moreover, YY. HH. would not believe what trouble I 
have and what work it gives me to collect the sales monies. 
When " De Gertruyda Christina " sailed I had not received 
half and when I paid Mr Boter the last instalment of " De 
Digna Johanna" I showed him that I had still twenty 



DESPATCHES 623 

thousand guilders due to me. Most of it has come in, it is 
true, but when pay-day arrives the sales-master is in great 
difficulties. I am still six or seven thousand guilders short 
for the vessel taking this letter ; for " Zeeburg," whose last 
instalment I paid when due, I have eight thousand guilders 
owing to me in Demerara alone, without reckoning Esse- 
quibo and all the smaller sales. All this, added to the 
number of protested bills\ makes my head swim, especially 
as I have no capital in Europe, and had I not been careful 
to abstain from buying in the first three slave-sales in order 
to have my salary in hand I could never have managed. 
So I shall be glad when I am relieved of this and of all 
else. 

Then again Your Honours' displeasure if I stay in 
Demerara but a fortnight longer is very hard for me, as 
I feel very much better and am much better cared for 
there than here ; but that is also past, and I hope I shall 
soon be free at last. Possibly I shall get my discharge 
from the Almighty before that from YY. HH., and from 
that there is no appeal. I do not deceive myself; I am 
daily getting weaker and more despondent, especially at 
finding I cannot do my work as usual and that everything 
o-ives me double trouble. 



P.R.O. 474/264 

September 23, 1769, 
(Extracts) 

Prevented by indisposition, I was not present at the 
sale^, but heard from those who were that Mrs Rousselet 
expressed herself in very bold and impertinent terms, 

^ Largely in payment of smuggled slaves ; cf. pp. 299, 300, 642, 
652, 653 and 662. 

2 Of part of the estate belonging to Nicolas Rousselet de la Jarie, 
the late Secretary (see p. 546). 



624 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

falling foul both of the Court and of myself. Personally, 
I do not let this trouble me, but think of Pope Alexander's 
reply on being told that Queen Christina had spoken very 
ill of him, and which consisted of only these two words : 
e donna — it is a woman. 

Land in Demerara is rising in value daily and now 
stands at 30 to 36 guilders an acre. What a difference 
— ten years ago it was fetching two or three guilders. 



P.R.O. 475/4 

November 30, 1769. 
(Extracts) 

The Spaniards continue to cruise along the coast, so 
that there is no chance of getting anything salted for the 
plantations, which does both the Honourable Company and 
the planters a great deal of harm. 

The Postholder of Maykouny has reported that a very 
large number of Caribs had come there and had asked him 
for permission to come and live in that river. All the 
Postholders having orders to keep on friendly terms with 
that nation and to favour them as much as possible, he 
immediately accorded them that permission, whereupon 
they laid out some plantations and have commenced to 
make their houses. 

He says that the Caribs were nearly all dressed, and 
even had priestly garments and ornaments with them. 
This made me suppose that they had been ill-treated by 
the Spaniards to such an extent that they had at last 
adopted measures of reprisal and had raided some of the 
Missions. We have as yet not had the slightest tidings 
of this, all communications with Orinoco being still cut off. 



DESPATCHES 625 

Should my supposition be found correct, the Spaniards 
are not too good to put the blame of this matter upon our 
shoulders, their conscience telling them what they had 
deserved. 

I should really shudder (as I always have done) to 
have recourse to such barbarous and un-Christian measures. 
I heartily wish that we could obtain full redress for the 
insults we have received and still continue to receive, but 
by honourable measures befitting Christian people ; and 
therefore, did my strength permit it, I would be quite 
willing to risk my grey head in this once more, for the 
actions of that proud nation are really unbearable, and the 
THore so because they presuppose a considerable measure of 
contempt, since the Spaniards in Orinoco must be fully 
convinced that if we chose to use our power with our 
Indians we could make the whole of Orinoco too hot for 
them. 

Had the insults offered to our Post of Cuyuni been 
punished as they deserved the latter ones would most 
probably never have been committed, but what is done is 
done. 

Meanwhile our fisheries are ruined, and we have lost 
all our runaway slaves. The slaves cannot live and work 
without rations, and three pounds of fish once a fortnight 
is really not much. This has now to be bought from the 
English. On the i8th I had to buy six barrels of cod; 
and if the English were not to come here, the Colony 
would be unfortunate indeed ; this is very costly, too, both 
for the Company and the planters. 



v. s. II. 40 



626 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 475/12 

December 21, 1769. 
(Extract) 

Were I not so full of ailments and did my strength but 
permit I would come to Europe in the spring after leaving 
everything here well regulated, but I dare not flatter 
myself it can be, for really. Noble and Right Honble. Sirs, 
I become quite despondent, and am so fully convinced of 
Your Honours' justice and reason that I know YY. HH. 
will not think me in the wrong. Is this dispute^ concern- 
ing the Colony never coming to an end ? Must I, old and 
worn-out, still suffer by it ? 

My feelings overcome me as I write and I must stop, 
concluding with the assurance that to the end I shall 
remain with all possible respect and esteem 

Your Honours' most humble and obedient servant. 



P.R.O. 475/18 

March 25, 1770. 
(Extracts) 

I will now answer Your Honours' esteemed letter.... 
The first thing that I come to is a paragraph concerning 
the Spanish outrage, and upon this I shall not dilate 
further, but simply refer to my last letter, and patiently 
await the results of Your Honours' well-based remonstrances 
to Their High Mightinesses. In the meantime, I shall 
not fail to do all I possibly can to prevent a continuance 
of those outrages, and for which I trust that the guns 
shipped by YY. HH. in the " Jan en Daniel," as I have seen 
from the invoices, will come in handy, and that they will 

1 See pp. 143-145 



DESPATCHES 627 

be put to good use on the arrival of the reinforcements for 
the garrison. YY. HH. need not fear that I shall expose 
myself needlessly. I intend to take up a quiet attitude ; 
but if we are attacked, it being free to defend ourselves, 
I shall know what it behoves me to do. 

I did not send the list of the course of exchange in 

o 

St Eustatius because I received a similar one, printed, from 
Surinam, and that I had the honour of forwarding. But is 
it not comical, YY. HH., that after so much talk and such 
tremendous efforts for a change, matters have after all been 
left /;/ statu g?io and the course of exchange, with a few 
unimportant exceptions, upon its old footing ? Mala ubi 
consnetudiiie recepta vim legis adispicanttir no7i facile possiint 
aboleri qiiam ttimvis damnoso sint says Valerius Maximus 
very aptly. 

Your Honours' suggestion that I should split up my letters 
into several smaller ones is a very useful one and might, 
if carried out, prove most convenient, but kindly consider, 
YY. HH., how difficult it would be for me (especially now, 
at the end of my term of office) suddenly to alter my 
custom — recens iiibiita servat odorem testa diu^. Secondly, 
if I were to write a separate letter concerning each specific 
subject, YY. HH. would have a great deal more to read than 
at present, since, in order to avoid being voluminous I 
express myself as briefly as possible, whilst in the other 
event I should certainly write more fully and circumstan- 
tially, for when I once begin to argue in my letters I 
cannot stop myself and must adduce all that is pertinent 
to the subject. 

I have now to answer what is to me a most painful 
paragraph concerning my discharge. 

^ Cf. p. 520. 

40 — 2 



628 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, what have I person- 
ally to do with the dispute between the respective 
Chambers^ ? Beyond the desire, which springs from my 
obligations and my bounden and legitimate gratitude 
towards the Zeeland Chamber, and the conviction, based, 
as I believe, upon unshakeable grounds, that it would be 
profitable and advantageous for this Colony to remain 
under Zeeland — nothing further. 

Will these differences concerning the free navigation 
never be decided or ended qiiovis modof Must I then 
never be discharged ? Having served fully thirty-two 
years must I be kept at work against my will and in spite 
of my incapacity to perform it ? 

Having now answered Your Honours' letter articulatiin 
I will pass to other matters. I cannot, however, refrain 
from referring once more to the infamous inventors and 
tale-bearers in this Colony, and especially in Demerara. 
From various private letters that came by this and earlier 
vessels I learnt with astonishment how I am suspected by 
the Chief Shareholders and possibly, I fear, by some of 
Your Honours' body, of being inimical to the interests of 
Zeeland and in favour of free navigation. My behaviour 
when I was in Europe in the years 1750 and 175 1 should 
have convinced everyone luce meridiana clarior of the 
contrary, and were the Right Honourable Burgomaster 
Tibaut- still alive striking proofs hereof could be produced. 
Time does not permit me to look for the letters I received 
from His Honour at Amsterdam and the Hague, otherwise 
I would enclose them herewith. An uninterrupted service 
of more than 32 years should, I flatter myself, have made 
me better known. 

1 See pp. 143-145- 

2 Johan Willem Thibaut (born / March, 1701, died 4 Nov., ijsg) 
was burgomaster of Middelburg and a director of the Zeeland Chamber 
of the West India Company. 



DESPATCHES 629 

Incapable of concealing my honest opinions, I would, had 
I felt that free navigation were beneficial to the Colony, 
already long since have openly declared my sentiments to 
YY. HH. I am of old Holland^ stock and was born at 
's Hertogenbosch, but have always been goed rond goed 
Zeeiavsch'^ and afraid of no man ; when in the army, 
I treated my superiors with no more than the necessary 
deference and by that conduct won their esteem, as I could 
prove by letters from Generaal van Pallandt^*, my colonel, 
and other chiefs. Being in fact too upright and outspoken 
has sometimes been prejudicial to me and also the reason 
why I no longer receive a single line from some gentlemen 
whom I flattered myself to be my friends — Veritas odium 
parit^ is a very old saying. 

My family here is in perfect agreement with me in 
thinking that people must be mad not to know how 
prejudicial it would be to the plantations if, as they wish, 
we were to be under Holland instead of Zeeland, and I have 
heard the Commandant^ speak very earnestly and zealously 
in pubhc to that effect ; I do not know my son's" opinion, 
but he left the Colony when still in his youth and before 
having any knowledge of the state of affairs. 

I have the honour to have near blood relations in the 
assemblies of more than one province, and the good fortune 
to possess friends of some repute — do YY. HH. imagine that 
if there were the least ground for the suspicion referred to 

* As distinctive from the other six United Provinces, and, in this 
case, especially from Zeeland. 

2 " Frank as a Zeelander," see p. 429. It is difficult, in a close 
translation, to reproduce the fulness of Storm's period : — Ik ben van 
eeft oiide HoHandsche Fainielje oorspronkelijk^ een geboore Bossenaar, 
niaar altoos goed rond goed Zeeuwsch geweest^ voor nietnatid bevreesd. 

^ See p. 645. 

* Obsequium amicos^ Veritas odium parit. Terence, A)id. I. i. 41. 

^ Johannes Bakker, Commandant of the militia in Essequibo, 
married Storm's daughter, Alpheda Louisa, in jydb. 
'" Jeremias, his only surviving son. 



630 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

I, who am not a lazy writer, would never have touched that 
string in my correspondence ? But herein my conscience is 
quite at rest, and believe me, YY, HH., I would not have the 
least hesitation in writing to H. S. H. circumstantially 
concerning the matter, for Recte faciendo neminem thncas is 
my motto. 

Have I then no reason, nay, double reason to beg so 
persistently for my discharge ? I know now that H. S. H. is 
inclined to aid me^ and I trust it may be as soon as 
possible, God grant that in my place there may come one 
who is above suspicion, more competent and able than I to 
give H. S. H. and YY. HH. perfect satisfaction. Amen. 

1 have now written enough concerning this sad business. 
I could say a good deal more but I have neither time nor 
inclination to do so and shall conclude with this verse of 
Racine which expresses my feelings exactly and to the 
letter. 

" Celid qui met tin frein a la fiireur des flots 
Salt aussi des mechants arreter les coniplots, 
Soumis avec respect a sa volonte sainte 
Je crains Dieti, chere amie, et n'ai nulle autre crainte'^r 

To-day, January 12^, Your Honours' several and highly 
esteemed letters to the Court of Policy were read, where- 
upon Mr Tuite, who, with his son, arrived here yesterday, 
was immediately allotted 500 acres of land in Coelesiraboe^ 

^ This knowledge was probably based upon something later than 
the assurance given him in writing by the Prince in iy66 (cf. p. 551). 

2 The correct text of the last line reads: — "Je crains Dieu, cher 
Abner, et n'ai point d'autre crainte." Athalie, Act i., Sc. i. 

^ The date at heading is that of actual despatch. 

* This was manifestly the same creek in which according to 
documents quoted by Rodway, who writes it Coeleriseraboe {Hist, of 
British Guiana^ i. 120), the first grant of land in Demerara was made 
in 1746. Cf. also p. 217. 



DESPATCHES 63 I 

Creek and handed the title-deeds for the same ; the Court 
will have the honour to reply. Concerning Codin and the 
burgher-officers I have already had the honour to report 
above ; the Court will write more circumstantially and it 
has been resolved that if Roman Catholics be found among 
them (which I doubt) such are to be illico discharged. 
With regard to the English Your Honours' remarks are 
well-based, but if YY. HH. were well acquainted with the 
planters in Demerara YY. HH. would be convinced that we 
had to make a virtue of necessity and have nominated the 
staider planters. Neither the Commander nor I have much 
inclination for English, but what are we to do if there is a 
dearth of eligible men, and I have seen in the minutes that 
at one time there were even Roman Catholic Councillors of 
Policy, which ought certainly not to be, but also then for 
want of better. 

Having considered the matter very carefully I cannot 
see how the English burghers who are there in such 
numbers can well be excluded altogether especially when, 
having been long years resident in the Colony and having- 
property there, they are genuine citizens. YY. HH. inquire 
whether in the English colonies Dutchmen are admitted to 
the administration ; the answer is yes, if they are 
naturalized. And do we not see Dutch families like the 
Bentincks, the Keppels and others even in the House of 
Lords .'' But, as I have already said, it is in my opinion 
better to keep them out of the government provided no 
partiality be shown, which might have evil results. 

What increases my vexation is that I now see that the 
inhabitants of Demerara are acting openly and with a high 
hand, contrary to law and order, in that they are buying 
slaves from the English publicly and without the least 
reserved This is carried so far that one of them named 

^ See remarks on pp. 299, 300 



632 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Jan Blondel made bold to say to Capt. Pieter Stap, who at 
length arrived before this river in February : " What have 
you come here for ? We don't want you ; we can get slaves 
enough from the English. Here is a boy who cost me only 
two hundred guilders." 

As this practice is becoming common I am at my wits' 
end and know not what to do. Mild measures are useless 
and violent ones I dare not employ in a case which is so 
general, nor am I in a fit state to do so. 



P.R.O. 475/42 



(Extract) 



April 3, 1770. 



During my stay in Demerara I shall entrust the 
command and the superintendence of Your Honours' 
plantations to Commandant Backer^ who is much more 
fitted for the latter duty than I ; being young, strong and 
fairly well experienced he will manage matters better. 
Things do not go as I could wish and order must be kept 
with a strong hand ; this I cannot do — my weak condition 
prevents it, and when I came to high words some four 
weeks ago with the manager of " Duynenburg " I had to 
pay for it later. 



P.R.O. 475/50 

Demerara, June 5, 1770. 
(Extracts) 

The second despatch, referring to the Honble. Co.'s 
missing books, has greatly surprised me. I have given it 
to the Commander to take to Essequibo, asking him to 
communicate its contents to Mr Trotz and to inform the 
latter that I shall not allow him to depart for Europe before 

1 See Note 5, p. 629. 



DESPATCHES 633 

he has fulfilled Your Honours' requirements^ ; in the event 
of receiving an unsatisfactory reply the Commander is to 
submit Your Honours' despatch to the Court on the 26th 
and invoke its authority in my name. 

I have carefully perused the memorandum from Mr 
Moulion, the chief bookkeeper, appended to the said 
despatch, and am surprised that that gentleman did not 
add that it is the Director- General's duty to make up 
the books himself in the event of the absence, sickness or 
negligence of the clerks. When I was bookkeeper- from 
the year 1738 to 1742 I never failed to send over all the 
books each year and although I had never learnt book- 
keeping (as I had the honour to inform Your Honours' 
Chamber in October, 1737) the books were found to be in 
good and proper order by the then Chief Bookkeeper, 
Mr Satijn. 

During the late Mr Spoors' long service, from 1742 to 
the time of his discharge, I never received any complaints. 
I do know that during the last years of his career he some- 
times let the work get into arrears, for the books had to be 
brought to me ; I did not fail to speak to him about it and 
seriously to admonish him to send them over, when I 
always got the answer, " It will be done in good time and, 
after all, it is I who am answerable for it." 

Notwithstanding that some books and accounts were 
still wanting Mr Spoors obtained from W". HH. his discharge, 
a seat in Court, double rations and the slaves which he had 



1 George Hendrik Trotz was a Councillor of Justice in Essequibo 
and (according to the Registers) owner of two plantations in Demerara; 
he was a son-in-law of Adriaan .Spoors, the former Secretary, and it 
was probably in his capacity as executor or heir to Spoors' estate that 
the above inhibition was laid upon him by the Director-General. He 
succeeded Storm in the Directorship in 777.?. 

2 It will be remembered that Storm was appointed Secretary and 
Bookkeeper (see p. 32. Cf. also Netscher, Op. cit. p. 108). 



634 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

always had. May I not with reason ask why YY. HH. (who 
are so hard upon me after a service of fully thirty-two 
years) did not before granting that gentleman his discharge 
so honourably and profitably, compel him to discharge his 
duty and to send in the missing books instead of requiring 
me to do the impossible ? 

The late Mr Rousselet having received no notes or 
figures concerning the above-mentioned books and having 
nothing to go by declared it to be impossible to make them 
up. I had the honour to inform YY. HH. of this ; Mr 
Spoors was still alive, but all the efforts of Mr Rousselet 
and myself were in vain.... 

After Mr Rousselet's death I took up the work as far as 
I possibly could, although it was outside my department, 
entered up and sent over the pay and taxation books in 
good time, prepared the various lists, accounts, registers, &c., 
looked carefully into everything, tried to get in the bad 
debts, and, from the receipts exhibited to me, drew up lists 
of what Messrs Spoors and Rousselet owed the Company, 
so that YY. HH. at length did me the honour to write that 
it was surprising how I could do all that work. But, YY. HH., 
I was killing myself, working myself into the grave in spite 
of the warnings of my children and others that I was doing 
myself no good. 

I find, alas ! that those warnings were not without 
reason. Since January, 1769, 1 have been constantly ill and 
debilitated ; this year I have been at Death's door, and still 
continually beset with fever and pains in my back. I 
expect to be soon released from all my burdens and 
worries, but the Lord's will be done and I submit to it with 
resignation. 

But my honour (wherein I am so grievously attacked, 
as will be subsequently made clear) being dear to me, I 
cannot refrain (as long as the Lord shall grant me strength 
and support me) from defending the same (for which no one 



DESPATCHES 635 

will blame me) at all times and in all places where necessary, 
and justifying myself before YY. HH., before Their High 
Mightinesses and before His Serene Highness. That 
justification will give me no difficulty if the Lord but grant 
me, as hitherto, the power. 

Hie tibi ninrtis aJieneics est 

Nil eo7iscire sibi nulla pallescere eulpa^. 

I cannot, however, pass without remark Your Honours' 
comparison^ of the Spanish rhodomontades with a snow- 
ball which gets bigger in its transmission to Europe, an 
observation which does me great honour but which, like so 
many others, I shall pocket until time and opportunity 



^ Horace, Ep. I. i. 61. The correct reading is Hie iniirus aheneus 
esio.... 

2 The Directors, on Feb. j, ijjo^ had written as follows : — 

"As regards the Spanish rhodomontades of which you speak in 
this letter of yours, of their desire to come and take possession of all 
the territory extending to the bank of Oene, which is situated on 
the west coast of Essequibo and below which there are several planta- 
tions, under pretext that it belongs to His Catholic Majesty, we believe 
that all those threats of the Spaniards increase in size, just like a 
rolling snow-ball, in proportion to the distance of their transmission 
hither, and that all their pretended enterprises against the Colony will 
disappear in smoke unless the Republic should become involved in a 
war with the Crown of Spain on some other side, of which, however, 
there is as yet little probability ; and it really is not necessary to be a 
very profound thinker in order to divine for what purpose the wanton 
acts of perhaps some few Spaniards had to be depicted and spread 
about as enterprises very dangerous to a Colony in a proper state of 
defence. 

"We have repeatedly expressed to you our ideas on this subject, 
and we are more and more confirmed in those ideas which from the 
beginning we formed about this whole matter. 

" Nevertheless, it remains true, felix et prudeiis., qui tempore paeis 
de bello eogitet; and therefore you have done very well in taking this 
opportunity to bring the whole corps of the militia of both rivers upon 
a better and more adequate footing ; the task will now be to keep it 
upon that good footing, which we commend to your good care while 
that shall last." 



636 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

serve ; it is but a fresh proof what great influence base 
written and verbal denunciations have had. Unhappy, yea, 
thrice unhappy the chief who is subjected to them. 

YY. HH. are pleased to say that this^ has been made as 
clear as day by copies of bills of exchange given to English 
captains bearing the words " value received in slaves." 
I beg YY. HH. not to take it amiss if I ask why no copies 
of such bills have been sent me ; I would then have ample 
proof in hand and could proceed against the drawers 
without difficulty. I should then be holding the thread and 
the next thing would be to follow it up ; for these men 
must be made to smart, to inform against others and so 
reveal the whole business. 

In Your Honours' letter I find yet another sentence 
which would appear on the surface to be meant for me. 
YY. HH. are pleased to say that despotic treatment, etc., 
will have to be stopped. Is anyone in the world a greater 
enemy of despotic treatment than I ? Did not His Late 
Serene Highness of laudable memory, upon my departure, 
and did not Your Honours' Assembly frequently reproach 
me for my goodness and great leniency in these very words, 
*' Too good is mad " .'' 

But, Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, I will pass by 
and make an end of all this. I see and learn from Your 
Honours' letters how greatly YY, HH. are displeased with 
me — for no reason, I may conscientiously add. After a 
faithful service of more than thirty-two years, after all my 
zeal and industry for the Honble. Company and the 

1 The importation of slaves into the Colony by other than Zeeland 
traders. This smuggling, unavoidable, as shown in Storm's letter 
of December p, iy6j (see p. 561), was evidently at the bottom of the 
Directors' ill-feeling betrayed in earlier portions of their despatch. 
Cf. remarks on pp. 299, 300. 



DESPATCHES 6^7 

Colony, after toiling, moiling and worrying myself to death 
in order to put everything right that the former secretaries 
had neglected, after going beyond my province in making 
up the books, compiling the Registers, examining accounts, 
lists and receipts to ascertain what monies received by 
Messrs Spoors and Rousselet were due to the Company — 
after having, in a word, done everything in my power, my 
duty and more than my duty, is this my reward ? O tem- 
pora, O mores! Had I, could I have, expected this? 
Never, Your Honours.... 

\_After reporting a variety of business matters Storm 
proceeds as folloivs .•] 

It was my desire to write much more and in greater 
detail, but strength fails me\ broken, as I am, by grief and 
vexations. These assail me from all sides, although I heed 
but little any that come not from YY. HH., for the others 
are easy to deal with ; their authors stand forth and I have 
to fight no shadows, as is not the case with Your Honours' 
charges ^ 

Cicero in his Paradoxa aptly says : 

Sed nihil est tam incredibile qnod non dicendo fiat proba- 
bile, nihil tam horridum, ta)n incidtiim quod non splcndescat 
oratione et tamquam excolatur^. 



The opening note of the final episode in Storm's administra- 
tion is heard in the first ivords of the tzvo folloiving 
despatches. 

The colonists' harsh treatment of their slaves, added to the 
dearth of rations, forced the blacks to desertion, and to 



^ In the earlier portion of this despatch Storm mentions having 
been obliged to preside at a Court Meeting whilst lying in his 
hammock. 

2 See pp. 633 and 636. ^ Prooemiutn, § 3. 



638 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

prevent this the aid of the Indians had to be invoked, 
since the garrison, in spite of Storm's repeated entreaties, 
was always too zveak. 
It is interesting and inspiring to observe how, notzvithstanding 
his infirmities. Storm rose to the occasion when, nearly 
two years later^, desertion developed into revolt and how, 
with a soldier s soul, he ended his career — fighting. 

I'.R.O. 475/88 

Demerara, November 24, 1770. 
(Extracts) 

As cases of desertion are now becoming so frequent 
I find myself obliged to seek some remedy for this state of 
things, and therefore wrote to the Postholder of Arinda on 
the 3rd of September to ask the Carib Owls in my name 
to send a detachment of fifty men of their nation here to 
keep a watchful eye upon the plantations. If they accede 
to this request I hope to make a clean sweep. I have 
offered a reward of 250 guilders to whomsoever shall bring 
back alive the negro Tower Hill, who is still at large, and 
.100 guilders to whomsoever shall bring him back dead. 

In the English islands no one may upon his own 
authority give a slave more than forty lashes and so, to 
keep on the safe side, no one ever gives more than thirty- 
nine ; it is true that this may be done two days running, 
but what is that compared with what goes on here ? 

We have no laws<,concerning the matter (at least none 
is known to me) and when I remonstrate I am told that 
everyone is master of his own slaves and that as long as he 
does not kill them (i.e. if they but come from the stocks 
alive) it is no business of the Fiscal's. 

At the last committee meeting one of the burgher 

1 In August, 1772. See pp. 664 ei seq. 



DESPATCHES 639 

officers reported that an English barque from St Chris- 
topher, belonging to A. SomersalP, had brought 37 slaves, 
whereupon I sent a guard aboard the vessel and had the 
merchant arrested and brought before the Court. 

YY. HH. would scarcely believe what a commotion this 
has caused in the River and how they are running about to 
collect all sorts of evidence. Mr Heyliger was down at 
John Bermingham's place deliberating with him for three 
days, 

A certain gentleman came here to grease my palm, 
offering me six thousand guilders^ ; this I refused. 



P.R.O. 475/103 

Demerara, January, 1771. 
(Extracts) 

Great embarrassment is caused by the long delayed 
arrival of the vessels ; there is a dearth of everything. All 
the warehouses (both those of the Honble. Co. and those of 
private planters) are empty and were it not for some 
North Americans who have run in it would be a bad look- 
out. I have to have my hand constantly in my pocket and 
buy from the English both for the plantations and for the 
warehouse, to which I object very much, as this is not 
profitable for the Honble. Company. For YY. HH. can 
well imagine that our needs being general and such not 
unknown to those fine gentlemen they put up the price. 

It is indeed more than high time, YY. HH., that strong 

^ In //d/, too, there had been trouble about some slaves belonging 
to this planter (see pp. 559 et scq.). 

2 This might have been a somewhat tempting ofifer to a less 
conscientious man for passing a few urgently needed slaves when 
it is borne in mind that the Directors presented Storm's daughter 
with 600 guilders in full compensation after her husband had laid down 
his life in the Company's service (see pp. 452-454). 



640 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

measures were taken to check the smuggling trade in slaves, 
for matters are going too far.... Not a week passes without 
foreign slaves coming in, so I hear. Only last week two 
barques were off the river and Capt. Steevense told me that 
he not only saw them but that he had been on board of 
them and had seen the slaves. 

I fear this will have the most fatal consequences for the 
Colony, for in addition to the loss in dues sustained by the 
Company and the blow dealt to the Zeeland trade it will 
indubitably lead to the ruin of many colonists, even if no 
worse results ensue\ 

I can do nothing more, except with the pen, and that 
but very defectively and almost illegibly^. I am pretty 
deaf and can only hear when people speak very loudly, 
wherefore my presence in Court is not of the least use, 
whilst it is moreover very troublesome for the members 
present to repeat all that is said in a loud and distinct 
voice. My memory, too, is beginning to fail me and I 
myself am getting weaker daily. If I am well for a day 
there follows a week's indisposition and as I write I am 
much incommoded by my old complaint — the dropping of 
my uvula. 



P.R.O. 475/108 

Demerara, March 8, 1771. 
(Extracts) 

The Postholder of Arinda having been ill and confined 
to his bed for four months has come down with over fifty 
Caribs, and on the ist of this month went into the woods 



' Cf. remarks on pp. 299, 300. 

2 For some twelve months prior to this the despatches are, indeed 
(with the exception of a few very short ones), not in Storm's hand- 
writing, though signed by him. 



DESPATCHES 64 1 

behind the plantations with those men to look for the run- 
aways. I hope this expedition will be successful, because 
if they succeed this will certainly intimidate the negroes 
from running away in future when they find that they are 
not safe even in the thickest bushes. I have had a good 
deal of trouble with the Carib Owls (one of whom was the 
leader of the expedition against the rebels in Berbice), 
because they spoke only of killing, and with a great deal of 
trouble and promises of double payment I got them to 
undertake to catch the runaways and bring them back alive. 

The body of a free Indian has been found floating in 
the Upper Demerara bearing distinctly the marks of blows 
and of the ropes by which the hands and feet had been 
tied. Every possible inquiry is being made to discover the 
author of the crime, but I fear it will be very difficult, for 
the insolent drunkards living up there will not lightly 
inform against each other ; it is therefore no wonder that 
most of the Indians have departed and gone to the Coren- 
tin, there being scarcely any left up the river. 

People have done themselves considerable harm by 
this treatment, for in addition to the great advantages 
gained from their work (as hired labourers) little would 
have been heard of negroes deserting had the Indians been 
well and kindly dealt with. No negro can get further 
than three hours' march behind our plantation " Soestdijk " 
without being caught and brought back by the Indians ; 
only recently five were so restored. 



V. s. n. 41 



642 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

P.R.O. 475/110 

Demerara, March 23, 1771. 
(Extract) 

I have at last discovered why I get no complaints 
concerning the bills of exchange protested by the English ; 
the latter make little fuss but get the drawers to give them 
fresh bills increased by the accommodation charges, etc. 
In this way the planters will be irretrievably ruined, for if 
this happen but some three times the original amount is 
already doubled. The smuggling, however, goes on as 
hard as ever ; my son, who had been down stream 
yesterday to collect some money, told me that barques 
were constantly seen out at sea tacking to and fro before 
the river mouths 



P.R.O. 475/116 

Demerara, March 30, 1771. 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

The great dearth and the absolutely empty 
state of the Company's warehouse have compelled me to 
purchase from Captain Kent what is necessary. It is 
fortunate that some North Americans put in, otherwise I 
should have been at my wits' end. I have therefore been 
obliged to take from him for the warehouse and for the 
Company's plantations that for which I have the honour to 
enclose his own account ; to balance this I have drawn 
upon YY. HH. for f 1509, which bill I doubt not YY. HH. 
will be good enough to honour. By the next vessel I hope 
to send YY. HH. an account of the further outlay incurred 
by me. 

I have the honour to be with deep respect and esteem, 

Your Honours' most humble and obedient servant, 

L. Storm van 's Gravesande. 



' Cf. remarks on pp. 299, 300. 



DESPATCHES 643 

P.R.O. 475/119 

June 21, 1771. 
(P^xtracts) 

It was my firm intention to be in Essequibo long before 
ApriP but r homme propose et Dieu dispose. For six weeks 
I was uninterruptedly and without the sHghtest intermission 
beset by acute fever and by such pain in my loins that I 
could only walk doubled up and with the aid of a stick ; in 
addition to this, my eldest daughter lay between life and 
death for 28 days. I could not therefore be expected to 
undertake the journey, especially as the surgeon of the 
plantation and Doctor St Felix, a very skilful man in the 
employ of Baron van Grovestins, told me I would probably 
endanger my life by going upon the water ; all this was 
fully known to the Councillors^ In spite of all this, the 
fever having abated but not yet quite gone, I resolved, 
contrary to all advice, to set out, since my presence was 
absolutely required in Essequibo. I had, too, the Lord be 
praised, an extremely good journey, having left "Soestdijk" 
at a quarter before three in the morning^ and arriving at 
Fort Zeelandia before three in the afternoon. 

Had we the good fortune to have but one or two 
sensible, impartial and unprejudiced members of Your 
Honours' body here they would soon be convinced that as 
matters go on here it is perfectly impossible for an honour- 
able, honest and conscientious man to fill my post to his 
own satisfaction. 



* It will be noted that Storm's despatches had since June^ ^770, all 
been written from Demerara. 

^ On the preceding page Storm had reported that the Court had 
refused to sit on April 8 in his absence, though, as he points out, the 
presidency should and could very properly have been taken by the 
senior Councillor present. 

^ Three hours before sunrise. 

41 — 2 



644 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Since the question of free navigation to this Colony is 
now settled^ and my hands are untied I would not neglect 
to take the liberty of writing to His Serene Highness — not 
a short epistle but a volume — concerning the state of affairs 
here, which up to now I have carefully avoided doing, but 
alas ! though the spirit is willing, strength fails me. 

The importation of foreign slaves does not stop. I 
have often had the honour of writing about this and of 
suggesting the only possible means of preventing it 
efficaciously. Such is impossible for the Commander or 
myself, as matters stand now ; when I hear of it, it is either 
too late or proper and sufficient proofs are wanting^ 

[As a sequence to some remarks bewailing the loss, to 
the Court and to the Colo7iy, of three of his best Councillors 
Storm goes on to say:] 

Take it not amiss, YY. HH., I pray, if I, not daring to 
hope for a much longer life, speak outright, and permit 
me, Your Honours' oldest servant (so I believe) to pour out 
his heart, possibly (the Lord knows) for the last time. 

I have the good fortune. Noble and Right Honourable 
Sirs, to come of a family which has sat, from father to son, 
in the councils of the city of Delft since the year 1300, as 
well as for a long time in those of Gouda, where the last 
Gerard Storm, Heer van Hoogeveen, died as burgomaster 
in the year 175 i^ 

Having always acted in keeping with the traditional 
Dutch outspokenness (ever, too, the boast of the Zeelanders, 
whence the saying Goed rond goed Zeeuwsch*), having 
always during my full seventeen years of military service 
gone straightforwardly to work and never been afraid to 

^ See pp. 143-145. 2 Cf. remarks on pp. 299, 300. 

^ For a full account of Storm's forbears see pp. 28-31. 
* See p. 429. 



DESPATCHES 645 

tell my chiefs the truth outright and, though with due 
respect, without circumlocution, I thereby gained their 
esteem and have still by me the letter wherein my old 
Colonel, Generaal van Pallandt\ then 82 years of age, did 
me the honour to write (upon my informing His Excellency 
of my intention to go to Essequibo and thanking him for 
all the benefits conferred on me) that he was very pleased 
indeed to hear of my advancement but that he was at the 
same time sorry to lose one of his best officers. 

His Late Serene Highness^, of laudable memory, having 
been good enough to take the trouble to read all my letters 
to YY. HH., also did me the honour to say^ " You are still 
the old Storm van 's Gravesande — Jan RegUiyt^''' (alluding 
to the affair concerning H. s. H. which I had had 20 years 
before with my stepmother's father. Burgomaster van 
Bronkhorst^ in Utrecht, where H. S. H. was then studying, 
and which cost me my promotion^), adding, " had you 
stayed here you would now be one of our generals." 

What is the Colony now compared with what it was 
twenty years ago ? What has become of the unity and 
sincerity of those days .' As long as I was Secretary, and 
long after, YY. HH. never wrote a single letter to anyone 
but the Commander and never even answered one of mine 



1 Johan Werner van Pallandt, Heer van Eerde en Beerse, a 
general of infantry and some time Governor of Tournai and Breda. 
He died Oct. 14, 1741. Van der Aa {Biographisch Woordenboek) 
does not give the date of his birth, which may, however, be fixed 
by Storm's statement, which refers to his own appointment in 1737. 

2 WilHam IV, Prince of Orange (cf. p. 37). 

3 This must have been in 1730 or //J/, during Storm's visit home. 
(Cf. p. 278.) 

* " Straightforward John." 

s From Rietstap {Heraldieke Bibliotheek, 187J, p. 132) we learn 
that Storm's father married for the second time on July 27, 1713, 
Ernestine Henriette, a daughter of Adriaan van Bronkhorst, burgo- 
master of Utrecht. 

" In 17 JO or 17 Ji. 



646 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

except addressed to the Commander and Secretary^ I may- 
boast that although in those days I got no direct reply to 
my letters no proposal that I took the liberty to make was 
ever rejected. 

Demerara was begun under my administration. What 
trouble did I not take, what fatigue did I not endure to 
make it prosper, and what opposition did I not have to 
fight ! This is well known to YY. HH. and even better than 
to me. Now that it comprises not far from 200 plantations 
what reward have I for my labour .'' The base ingratitude 
of many of the planters, misled and incited by enemies who 
really deserve naught but my contempt and that of all 
honest men. But, YY. HH., in spite of that, I can safely rely 
upon all the inhabitants. Let them be asked, man for man, 
whether I have wronged, oppressed or mulcted them ; it 
will be my shame if but one can say and prove it — except, 
perhaps, two or three of my bitterest enemies who might 
say so, but to prove it would be another matter. 

Economy is laudable and most necessary ; that is 
perfectly true, but what is called economy is not always so 
and in order to ingratiate themselves with YY. HH. people 
have dished up many untruths that are now beginning to 
bear evil consequences ; for instance, the brick factory and 
many other things which I pass over from expediency and 
because what is done cannot be undone. But I, a weak old 
man, must now bear the burden — not the blame, which 
cannot be imputed to me, as I can prove clear as daylight 
by Your Honours' and my own letters and the course I 
pursued — but the burden of gradually putting things into 
order again. 



' An example of the practice Storm alludes to may be seen on 
p. 196. 



DESPATCHES 647 

The Court of Policy sat on the 25th of May, when 
about sixty Petitions were presented for grants of land. 
No decision could be come to concerning the majority of 
these, because the Court did not know how far it was 
possible to accede to them ; they have, however, been placed 
in the hands of one of the surveyors, who is to report to the 
Court, whereupon some decision will be arrived at. 

At this meeting were also read the several letters from 
YY. HH., in which orders are given to grant tracts of land 
in the creek of Maheyka, which surprises us very much. 

It is some time now since the Court of Policy came to 
the resolve not to make any grants of land in the creek 
Maheyka until the sea-coast on the east side of Demerary 
was populated. 

Maheyka being situated full seven hours from Demerary, 
the Court thought that if land were granted there, the 
planters would be too far beyond the reach of the Govern- 
ment, and would be able to do as they liked without the 
least fear of being pursued, which could only lead to very 
bad results, and this is the reason of the Resolution which 
Your Honours will find in the last Protocols of the Court 
of Policy sent over. 

After a long account concerning Court business, the large 
number of protested bills of exchange and the imminent 
failure of many planters, Storm proceeds as follows. 

Be pleased to consider, YY. HH., in what condition I 
must be, not only through sitting so long in Court in this 
chaos of business, but having besides, from the moment I 
leave my room at half- past five in the morning until the 
evening, to listen to so many people who come to talk to 
me of their affairs ; I am, needless to say, quite dazed and 
hardly know what to do or where to begin. I must 



648 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

succumb, for I cannot go on. It seems as if the saying of 

the Emperor Vespasian (to compare great things with 

small) were about to fit me — Decet imperatorein stantem 
viori. 



P.R.O. 475/123 

June 21, I77I^ 
(Extract) 

Although now fully thirty-three years in this Colony 
(with the exception of 1750 and 175 1, when I was in 
Europe) I have never experienced such a time as the 
present. Everything seems to be in a turmoil and there is 
not a mement's rest. Court-meeting after meeting, and 
these so tedious and wearisome as to be unendurable. 

The ofifices of secretary, bookkeeper, receiver of dues 
and taxes and sales-master having now been vacant for 
four years, everything rests upon my weak shoulders ; to 
this is now added the Commandership of Demerara^, 
which, although filled, like the secretaryship, ad interim, 
still really falls on me since I am absolutely compelled to 
superintend everything, else little or naught would be 
properly done. 



* Very frequently several letters were despatched by the same 
vessel (cf. date on p. 643). 

2 In his earlier despatch of the same date Storm stated (it has not 
been deemed necessary to give the extract) that in accordance with 
the Directors' instructions dated December 24., 1770, he had (on April 
J, ////, see P.R.O. 475/1 11) discharged van den Heuvel to the great 
joy of the latter, though this joy had been almost immediately 
tempered by the loss of the ex-Commander's wife, Storm's eldest 
daughter (see p. 49). 



DESPATCHES 649 

P.R.O. 475/132 

July 12, 1771. 
(Extract) 

It is now eighteen months ago since we received the 
last goods for the slaves, etc., by " De Swerver," Capt. 
Plutman, which arrived here at the beginning of January, 
1770. This discourages both the employees and slaves and 
I am compelled to listen to complaints and entreaties on 
the one hand and to put up with the derision of the 
planters on the other. 

Where are the times when a managership being vacant 
there were ten or twelve applicants ? Now I almost have 
to look for one, when needed, myself, but I will not dilate 
upon that now. 

Where are the old times, YY. HH., when the Company's 
higher officials and the Managers annually received every- 
thing (and more than they could use) for their households 
— tin plates, dishes, serviettes, tablecloths, candlesticks, 
earthenware, etc. ? I remember getting all this myself 

Concerning the state of the Colony and some dealings 
in relation therewith it is best for me to be silent; what 
should I gain by creating more enemies for the short time 
that in all probability I have still to live? 

Obsequiuin aniicos, Veritas odium parit^. 

So long as private or self-interest has absolute rule and 
the Company's and Colony's welfare is not considered 
nothing good is to be expected. The Lord knows how 
sincere were my intentions and all my weak endeavours, 
even in the face of strong opposition, to promote the welfare 
and interests of the Honble. Co. and the growth of the 
Colony. In despair I must at length give it up ; old, weak 
and always ill, I cannot go on. How will things go. Your 
Honours, when it pleases the Almighty to take me to Him? 

' Terence, Atid. I. i. 41. 



650 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Commander van den Heuvel is out of the service, 

Changuion^ is in Europe, and Commandant Backer (next 

in seniority to the Commander) quite unvviUing, I think, to 

take command ad interim, having already resigned as 

Councillor of Justice and valuer and only remaining in 

service out of compassion with and in order to help me. 

Sat patricB Priamoqiie datum : si Pergama dextra 

Defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fuissent^. 

Ah, could I but say at the end of my days : 

Ah, cachons nous, passous avec les sages 
Le soir serein d'lm jour mele dorages, 
Et derobons a Cceil de I'envienx 
Le peic de temps que me laissent les dieux. 



P.R.O. 475/138 

August 27, 1 77 1. 
(Extracts) 

It grieves me very much that not being in a fit state 

properly to discharge my duties I am still compelled nolens 

volens to remain at the head of affairs, and that by doing 

as much as possible I do more than I really can and so 

kill myself Would that YV. HH. might follow the doctrine 

of Horace, who says : 

Solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne 

Peccet ad extrenium ridendus et ilia ducat^, 

as I have followed that of Virgil, 

Hunc quoque, ubi aut fnorbo gravis, aut jam segnior annis, 

Deficit, abde domo*. 



' From this and Storm's remark on p. 648, Changuion would 
appear to have been appointed Commander ad interim of Demerara ; 
Netscher does not include his name in his list of Commanders, but 
has a gap in the post from Dec. lyyo to July lyys {Op. cit. p. 328). 

2 Virgil, jEh. ii. 291. 

3 Horace, Ep. I. i. 9. * Virgil, Georg. iii. 96. 



DESPATCHES 65 1 

I ought to be in Demerara, but cannot. The critical 
events that are occurring there are causing the loss of van 
den Heuvel to be deplored and that, too, openly, by the 
very people who were opposed to him. I feel his loss most, 
but what is to be done? Non omnia possumiis onines. So 
it will also be when I am gone. I am quite convinced they 
will often say, " Would that our old Governor were still 
with us!" 

van den Heuvel has his faults, but who has not. Your 
Honours ? 

Nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur, optimus ille est 
Qui minimis urgetm-'^. 

He did his duty as far as lay in his power and would 
possibly have done more had not he, like me, lost courage 
through the opposition and all the intrigues of our foes, who 
have caused me so much undeserved pain.... 

Tidings come from Amsterdam that a considerable 

number of protested bills will be sent back by the next 

vessel. What will happen then ? I see no way out of it. 

I have still several by me for which I cannot obtain 

payment without ruining the drawers. Others having 

patience with the latter I cannot bring myself to be harder 

than they, especially since amongst these there are several 

who are themselves in difficulties. 

2 

Besides the current sales, payment for which is not yet 
due, I have much more than thirty thousand guilders owing 
to me, and this frequently causes me difficulty. But 
patience ! I hope it will come in gradually, if not to me, 
then to my children. 



^ Horace, Satirae, I. iii. 68. 

2 For the intervening passage see the second extract on p. 55. 



652 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

Leaving this matter I will proceed with my report as 
far as possible. 

On Your Honours' plantations everything is, thank 
God, going on well. If only we could get more cattle and 
a reinforcement of slaves for " Achterkerke " and " Luyx- 
bergen " ! I dare not do as I would herein, however 
necessary it be, since economy has been so impressed upon 
me. 

There is now great lack of everything both at the Fort 
and on Your Honours' plantations, it being nineteen 
months since we received the last provisions and trading- 
wares. I have not even a flag to hoist over the Fort ; at 
the last execution I had to borrow one from Capt. Deneke 
and on the 7th, the anniversary of H. R. H.'s^ birthday, one 
from van Kakom, whose vessel is the only one now lying 
before the Fort. 

I have now a deal of worry concerning protested bills — 
one application after another for execution. All those 
emanating from strangers I refuse and refer to the Court, 
but that will not last very long and at the next meeting a 
number of petitions on this matter will be presented ; at the 
last meeting execution was granted in two cases at the 
instance of colonists. The Court acts with great reluctance 
in this business and for very good reasons, for were it more 
precipitate the Colony would be quite ruined ; the downfall 
of one would drag many others after it — it is quite a 
concatenation. For instance, P. Halley holds protested 
bills drawn by J. Daly, John Bermingham has some drawn 
by P. Halley, the latter again some drawn by Vincent 
Barre ; if execution is granted against P. Halley, he must 



' Princess Fredrica Sophia Wilhelmina, consort of William V, 
Prince of Orange, born August 7, 1747. 



DESPATCHES 653 

apply for the same against J. Daly and V. Barre. It is 
impossible for me to give YY. HH. a good and sufficient 
idea of all this, but in the end it will have to bend or break; 
if no change comes things will be in a wretched state. If 
there be no credit there will be no buyers, therefore the 
drawers as well as the holders of bills will be ruined. I 
foresaw and foretold all this clearly and plainly, but mine 
was the fate of Cassandra, who was given the power to 
prophesy but destined never to be believed. 

I am being greatly worried by a person from St 
Christopher who has a large number of protested bills and 
is applying for execution. I referred him to the Court but 
it being too long for him to wait until October 7, the date 
of the ordinary meeting, he asked for a special meeting, 
whereupon I told him this would cost him 500 guilders, to 
be deposited beforehand in the Secretary's office. He said, 
" I must have my money, even if I have to pay 1 500 
guilders." But things have remained at that and he has 
made no further application. What the Councillors will 
decree in this matter is still unknown to me, but personally 
I am absolutely opposed to a grant of execution ; all his 
bills are the result of illicit trade in smuggled slaves'. 
Moreover I am told that he sold good, bad and indifferent, 
all at a handsome profit. These fine gentlemen must be 
taught a lesson and this would be the most efficacious 
means of checking them in that illicit trade. I shall delay 
the special meeting as long as I can, but if he persists in 
having it I must convoke it, though I hope it will be of no 
use to him. It is my opinion, salzw ineliori, that if any 
complaints were made to Their High Mightinesses con- 
cerning the matter (though I do not expect it) justification 
would be found for not allowing the Colony to be ruined 

^ Cf. remarks on pp. 299, 300. 



654 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

and overturned for the sake of an illicit trade carried on in 
violation of the Company's Charter and Your Honours' oft 
repeated orders, and rendered more odious by the practice 
of bills being renewed two and even three times (possibly 
oftener) with an increment of 25 per cent. 

The throwing open of Pomeroon would certainly result 
in the downfall of Essequibo and Demerary, and the 
opening would only be to the advantage of the English, 
who would come there in crowds for the fine timber that is 
there, and not for the purpose of laying out proper planta- 
tions. The Company would therefore derive no profit from 
this, but it would be absolutely harmful, and if that river 
were at any time thrown open, with a strict provision that 
no timber might be exported, we should have very few or 
possibly no applications for land there\ 



P.R.O. 475/149 

September 15, 1771. 
(Extract) 

Now, Your Honours, we are not only without provisions 
(that would be the least) but without trading wares, linen 
or tools for the slaves ; there is not a nail left to fasten 
anything with or to nail up the sugar casks — we are 
without a thing. How can this go on, YY. HH. ? To buy 
would be contrary to the economy so impressed upon me, 
for I should have to pay an increase of at least 50 if not 
100 Vo upon everything. 



* See p. 352. 



DESPATCHES 655 

P.R.O. 475/166 

November 12, 1771. 
(Extracts) 

I now come to that clause in Your Honours' letter 
which has grieved me to my soul. Is this the reward, YY. 
HH., for my thirty-four years' service — to be told I am a 
rogue ? This is not in Your Honours' letter totidem verbis 
but totidem sensu. 

I call Omniscient God to witness that I have done all in 
my power to further the interests of the Company and 
Colony. I may have made mistakes — errare humamim — 
but have never wittingly cheated the Company or the 
Colony out of a farthing... 

That Your Honours' slaves have been for long periods 
without rations is perfectly true — often for six months in 
the year, with intervals — and the number of Your Honours' 
slaves who get or ought to get rations is 600 without 
counting children. Three pounds of fish every fortnight 
for these 600 slaves amounts to 48,000 lbs., and this does 
not suffice, for the children must have at least their bit too. 
Whenever was, not 48,000 lbs., but even the half of that 
purchased in one year, including the stockfish which YY. 
HH. send } Where then. Your Honours, is the bad and 
unjustifiable management, how can there be suspicions 
concerning honesty, attention and economy .-' 

I imagine — possibly I am mistaken but would gladly 
be put right — I imagine that the Honble. Co. is bound to 
keep me in household supplies in a proper (by no means 
luxurious) manner ; how often, through lack of everything, 
have I not to pay for my beer, oil, vinegar, soap, candles, 
etc., out of my own pocket? Have I debited YY. HH. with 
this.-* It would amount to a pretty considerable sum if 
I were to reckon it all up, and I can assure YY. HH. that if 
the salesmastership had not supported me I should be up 



656 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

to my ears in debt. I even have to provide the guard in 
the Fort with candles of my own. 

Your Honours have, it seems to me, taken not the least 
notice of what I wrote concerning the horses and mules 
required for the Company's plantations, for YY. HH. stick 
strictly to the old text. Whilst on this subject I will make 
bold to dilate briefly upon the said plantations. 

All the mills there are in perfectly good order, cane 
so abundant that if any mills in the neighbourhood offered 
to fetch and crush half of it I should not hesitate to let 
them do so, it being quite impossible for the managers to 
get through it. 

If they had the animals they could be constantly 
crushing and yield as much sugar as any plantation of the 
same size in the Colony, but there would have to be no 
lack of anything. The manager of " Achterkerk " has been 
obliged to let these two excellent equinoctial spring tides 
pass without crushing because he has not a drop of oil and 
there is none to be got in the whole Colony ; the manager 
of " Duynenburg" got A. Zeagers to lend him a canful — 
for the rest there is a dearth of everything. 

If YY. HH. will be good enough to give the plantations 
a chance to do so, the plantations will yield as well as any 
in the Colony. Now necessity compels me to purchase 
horses and mules or allow the cane to rot. I hope Capt. 
Holmes, of whom I have ordered 20 horses, will soon come 
in, and I shall also buy mules, even up to 300 guilders 
a piece, which until now I have not dared to do. 

On one of the plantations things might, it is true, be 
better, and concerning this I administered some sharp 
reproofs only last week, but what am I to do, YY. HH. ? 
Other good managers are not to be got ; a manager on a 
good private plantation earns at least 600 guilders a year, 
van den Heuvel gives his manager 1000 guilders and there 



DESPATCHES 657 

are others who earn even more ; what competent man will 
then enter the Company's service ? They are as averse 
now as they were formerly glad to do so 

The increase in the salary of the Commander ad intei'Un 
of Demerara was made, as usual in such cases, subject to 
Your Honours' approval ; I communicated Your Honours' 
orders to him and received the following reply. 

" I am obliged to Your Excellency for the intimation 
of what Their Honours write. I could never have imagined 
that TT. HH. would have disapproved of the increase 
granted me by Your Excellency, especially as I undertook 
the office against my will. I might regard it as a means of 
taking my discharge, for what have I left after paying my 
clerk 25 guilders a month.'' Not more than 3^ guilders — 
a fine salary for one who has to be in command and to 
discharge an assistant's duties too ! " 



P.R.O. 476/1 

November 30, 1771. 
(Extracts) 

Lack of provisions has never been greater ; no North 
Americans come, the protested bills having frightened them 
away. I think that if one ran in now she would be able to 
sell her salt fish at sixpence a pound. 

On November 2, ration day, I was in the greatest 
difficulty, for there was not an atom of meal in the ware- 
house, none coming in now from the English. To my 
great good fortune there were a few casks in J. Vlees- 
houwer's warehouse, half spoilt and full of ants, and these I 
was obliged to take at 14 doits^ a pound together with 
15 casks from J. Patterson. 



^ A doit was equal to about an eighth of an English penny. 
V. S. II. 42 



658 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

After Capt. Stuurlinck's letter-bag was closed it came 
to my ears that a petition signed by a very large number 
of planters had been sent over to H. S. H. in order to 
procure free navigation for Amsterdam ships. This was 
carefully concealed from me for some weeks after despatch 
the signatories not trusting me and fearing that I would 
have tried to oppose it as much as possible. Is it not 
strange, YY. HH., that in Zeeland I am suspected of being 
in favour of Amsterdam and here of quite the opposite ^''... 

The lack of credit, the protested bills, etc. drive many 
to despair and they imagine that by some such change 
credit will be restored and they themselves set up again. 

Turba per extremas semper BaccJiata vagatur 
Et niedias nescit carpere tiita vias-. 

When I had written as far as this Capt. Ledyard arrived 
in Demerara from North America bringing all kinds of 
provisions, twelve horses and six mules. I should certainly 
have bought some 25 casks of flour from him for the 
rations had he not told me that a three-masted vessel had 
anchored before Demerara; feeling certain that this was 
Capt. Different I let him go and ordered only ten casks of 
flour and four of cod, taking it for granted that Different 
would have brought at least some meal. But his letter- 
bag arriving two days later I found to my great astonish- 
ment on reading Your Honours' most esteemed letter that 
this vessel had again brought nothing for the Company. 
What is to happen, Your Honours .'* For myself it does 
not matter; I buy what I want and pay for it out of my 
pocket. But the other officials, the slaves, the plantations 
— what is to become of them? If it please YY. HH. to let 
the plantations fall rapidly back I wash my hands of the 
matter and leave it to Providence. 



^ See pp. 143-145. 2 See p. 569, Note i. 



DESPATCHES 659 

P.R.O. 476/23 

May 15, 1772, 
(Extracts) 

Since my term of office is approaching its end I con- 
sider myself compelled to lay before YY. HH. what is in my 
mind without circumlocution, as has always been my wont. 

If everything were properly regulated and put into due 
order the Colony would, under the Lord's blessing, soon 
equal if not surpass Surinam. There is no colony in the 
West Indies where there is so much work and industry. 
When one returns to Demerara after a year's absence one 
is astonished at the progress that has been made. 

The pioneers, who worked vigorously, allow themselves 
to be misled by clever rogues now that the worst part is 
over. So it is 

Sic vos lion vobis nidificatis aves 
Sic vos nan vobis niellificatis apes^. 

I do not know whether it is true, but I have been told 
that some Jews have applied to yy. HH. for permission 
to settle here. If this be so and they get permission 
I would put them all above the first fall in Essequibo, 
called the Mangue Falll They would be a bit out of the 
way there and have excellent land^. Some years ago 
Moses Isaakse de Vries, a Jew from Surinam, laid out a 
plantation there and brought down to A, Pieterse, the 
manager of Oosterbeek, cane fifteen feet long, as thick as a 
man's arm and yielding excellent sugar ; only one piece of 



1 See p. 355. 

^ The narrows of the Essequibo just below the first fall are known 
{teste Sir E. F. im Thurn) as the Monkey Jump. Which is the earlier 
form — mangue or monkey — cannot be determined. 

^ See Note 2, p. 211. 

42 — 2 



66o STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

cane at a time could be put through the mill. Pieterse, 
a Creole and formerly himself a planter, told me he had 
never seen anything like it. He desired to go up there 
himself to lay out a plantation, but refrained from doing so 
at the entreaty of his relatives and went to Demerara 
instead, where he laid out the first plantation, now called 
St Jan. Moses Isaakse de Vries having died, the beginning 
made up there has not yet been carried further. 



P.R.O. 476/149 

July 14, 1772. 
(Extracts) 

Many applicants allow their land to lie idle and do not 
bother about it ; others who seem to desire to keep it refuse 
to pay the surveyors on delivery of the chart, though they 
do not fail to complain to YV. HH. if their land is declared 
to be forfeited and transferred to others. 

It is urgently necessary, YY. HH., both for the interests 
of the Honble. Co. and for the welfare and progress of the 
Colony that the law be strictly adhered to which enacts 
that allotted lands must be worked within a year and six 
weeks on pain of being declared forfeited, except in a few 
special cases when the Court for good reasons grants 
dispensation for a single occasion and a stipulated time. 

It is related here that a new Governor has arrived in 
Orinoco. Should that be true, I hope that he will not be 
such a Turk as his predecessor. With the latter there was 
not the least chance of getting anything out of Orinoco, 
and he even forbade the usual salting in the mouth of the 
river, and set a strong watch to prevent it. If the present 
one shows a little more tractability, as the former ones did, 
I will soon take advantage of it ; there must now be 



DESPATCHES 66 1 

abundance of cattle there. The Enghsh no longer bring 
either horses or mules and very little provisions, the cause 
of this being the protested bills. 

The English who bring provisions absolutely refuse to 
deliver anything without payment in cash or kind, bills they 
will not take. What will the result of this be ? 

Mr Gedney Clarke has sold all his property in our 
Colony to one J. Hassley, whose property in Tabago he has 
acquired. 



// is pleasant to observe that one of Storm s last official acts 
Jiere chronicled was in protection of the free Indian and 
the slave. 

P.R.O. 476/150 

August 27, 1772. 
(Extracts) 

Principiis obsta sero medicina paratur^. In spite of my 
efforts and warnings I have up to now been able to do 
little in the way of bettering the treatment meted out to 
free Indians and of stopping the ill-treatment of slaves. 
The sad condition of Surinam has at length opened the 
colonists' eyes and important resolutions relating thereto 
have been passed, as YY. HH. will see from the proclama- 
tions. 

F. W. Gerds, accused by a free Arawak, who exhibited 
in Court the marks of a whipping, was brought from his 
plantation, and after having been confined in the lock-up 
for 24 hours was heavily fined and ordered to give the 
Indian fifty guilders' worth of goods ; after this the doors 

^ Ovid, Rem. Ainor. 91. 



662 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

were thrown open and the public was admitted, whereupon 
the accused was, in the hearing of all present, very severely 
reprimanded both for his ill conduct towards the Indians and 
for his barbarous treatment of his slaves, being told that the 
next time such a charge was again proved against him he 
would be punished not by a fine, but corporally. 

The dearth of provisions in the Upper Demerara is 
grievous, especially for the slaves. Wisdom has been the 
dupe of cupidity^ In order to obtain big yields only coffee 
and other produce was planted, no thought being given to 
the laying out of provision gardens, nor were the slaves 
allowed their customary Saturdays off^. Even when the 
English bring things, they will not give them without 
immediate payment ; they will not take bills any more and 
no contracts exist. If therefore the colonists wish to keep 
themselves and their slaves from starving they are obliged 
to pay in kind. Hunger is a sharp sword*. Your Honours. 

Planters who are well stocked are unwilling to sell, 
because they can get no payment ; bills are not accepted, 
since, however well backed, they cannot be cashed. I have 
a whole drawerful that I have been obliged to take in 
payment of small sales, and I would give the lot for half 
the amount in cash. 

Very many plantations having been laid out on the 
west coast of this river, Bouwman, the surveyor, who 
measured all those plantations, has at my request made a 
chart of that coast as far as Pomeroon and the Post of 
Maroco. From the actual mouth of the Essequibo to the 

^ De gierigheid heeft de wijsheid bedrogen. 

2 On which days they had been wont to cultivate their own pro- 
vision (cassava) gardens. 

^ Monger is een scherp sweerd. 



DESPATCHES 663 

creek Hamalte^ there are twenty-seven plantations; from 
there to Mana Caboera there are about six thousand roods, 
and from Mana Caboera to the mouth of Bowaron Ollira 
there are nine thousand roods (taken up), so that we are 
beginning to get close to Pomeroon and shall therefore have 
to cease making fresh grants of ground in that direction. 

What astonished me most, YY. HH., was to see in these 
exact plans the situation of the Post in Maroco ; I could 
never have imagined that it lay so far up the creek from the 
sea-coast. It lies upon and fully commands the inland road 
through the itabos'^, which is used by the inhabitants and 
the Spaniards as the safest, but it is absolutely useless as 
far as regards the runaway slaves, who pass along the coast 
by water, that being just beyond the reach of the Post. 

From this we see how little reliance is to be placed upon 
all the verbal reports of the Postholders, the latter having 
their own reasons for keeping up the deception, and I 
therefore believe that the visit of the surveyor was not very 
agreeable to them. 

Bouwman has sent me the new sketch, but I will make 
a neat copy of it, which I hope to have the honour of 
sending YY. HH. 

In the best chart of South America by M. d'Anville, the 
Post of Maroco is also wrongly placed in accordance with 
the aforesaid inaccurate information. 

It grieved me to my soul to learn of Your Honours' 
displeasure concerning my letter by " D'Anna Catharina," 
Capt. Stuurlink; it never was and never shall be my inten- 
tion to be wanting in the respect I owe YY. HH. If I have 

^ This creek is apparently not marked on any map, either con- 
temporary or later. 

^ Itabo is an Indian name for a waterway connecting two rivers, or 
two points on the same river, generally made by the passage of boats 
through intervening swampy ground. Cf. pp. 322 and 468. 



664 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

expressed myself somewhat too emphatically upon some 
points I humbly apologize for it. But, YY. HH., an old tree 
cannot be transplanted without danger nor yet bent. YY. 
HH. are aware that as long as I have had the honour to 
serve YY. HH. it has always been my wont to come straight- 
forwardly to the point, without circumlocution, frank as a 
Zeelander. I have often been fairly emphatic in my letters 
and such was never taken amiss by YY. HH. ; on the 
contrary, when I apologized for it YY. HH. on two occasions 
were good enough to reply that far from taking it amiss 
YY. HH. desired me to continue to be so outspoken, but 
tempora mutantur nos et mutavmr in illis^. 

^At II o'clock on the morning of the 13th of this 
month I received a letter from the Captain- Lieutenant 
Bode, containing the bad news that during the previous 
night the slaves of P. C. Hoofd had revolted and killed 
their owner and his wife, and asking me for immediate 
assistance. 

I then sent Major van der Heyde there to take com- 
mand, principally because he understands the Carib language, 
to which nation I had sent warning on all sides. Before 
his arrival two men named Clinton Williams and William 
Williams, with three companions, had taken possession of 
E. M. Bermingham's house, which is a fairly strong one, 
and defended it for thirty-six hours against the rebels, all 
the rest (of the colonists) having fled to Mr Struys in 
Bourasirie. 

At length, more than two hundred of the Caraibans 



1 See p. 572 (Note 3). 

^ The reader is referred to the remarks on pp. 637 and 638, and 
attention is also called, in explanation of Storm's extraordinary activity 
in this revolt, to the extract on p. 50. 



DESPATCHES 665 

being assembled under van der Heyde, it was resolved 
to make a general attack upon the 24th, and notice of this 
was sent to Messrs Looff, Boddaert, and Trotz in Demerary, 
who take the command down there in turns. 

The attack was made, and my son, sent here by Mr 
Trotz, passed there at 6 o'clock in the morning and told 
me that the firing had been hellish. 

Eight Caribs, who killed four rebels, have come here for 
payment; it is their custom that those who have killed 
a man go away and do not fight again for some time. 

The Owl has reported to us that his people were yester- 
day engaged in trying to discover the place where the 
rebels were concealed, and that to-day, the 26th, another 
attack would be made. 

On the west coast of this river the slaves belonging to 
Mr Bakker have also risen, and after having killed their 
own and A. Zeagers' manager have retired into the bush. 

I have never seen any Acuways come to our assistance 
with arms. They are good friends, but nothing further. 
Last week, however, five of them came down and went to 
van der Heyde, saying that their tribe would come down 
the Demerary to aid us. I have sent information of this to 
the Court in Demerary. 

Things are in a sad state at present, and the Colony 
has been on the brink of total ruin. I hope the Almighty 
will be with us; with Him alone rests the issue. Our 
resources cannot be weaker; there is as good as no garrison 
and the burghers are in disagreement and will not obey. 
They take no heed of the fact that herein lies their salva- 
tion and render desperate those who are able and ordered 
to command them, Mr van der Heyde having earnestly 
begged for his discharge. What would have happened 
then.? 



666 STORM VAN 's gravesande's 

P.R.O. 476/151 

August 29, 1772. 
(Extract) 

Noble and Right Honourable Sirs, 

The very dangerous condition of the Colony 
which has been and still is on the brink of total ruin, 
compels me to report the same to His Serene Highness 
as speedily as possible, which despatch, being inclosed, 
I take the liberty of humbly requesting YY. HH. to forward 
to him at once. 

On the night between the 12th and 13th of this month 
the slaves belonging to P. C. Hoofd on the sea-coast 
revolted, killing their master and his wife and another 
planter, and setting fire to the houses on three or four 
plantations. 

Hoofd having received two cases of guns and ammuni- 
tion for trading purposes all those scoundrels are well 
armed. Slowly, indeed, exceedingly slowly, did the bur- 
ghers appear upon the scene after repeated signals of alarm. 
What could I do with my weak garrison of 43 or 44 men 
for both rivers.'* 

I immediately sent a sergeant, a corporal, and fifteen 
men to the coast, together with fifteen well-armed Creoles, 
and on the following day I sent Councillor Broodhaage with 
another fourteen Creoles. 

And immediately sent to my good friends the Caribs 
on all sides asking them to come to our help, which they 
did not fail to do, for they came down from all parts, and 
as I write they are three hundred strong on the coast under 
Councillor van der Heyde, who is perfectly acquainted 
with their language. 

The Burgher-Captain Baron van Grovestins^, stationed 

^ It is difficult to determine, after this lapse of time, which of the 
two brothers this was — cf. Note i on p. 281. 



DESPATCHES ^J 

on van Hoofd's plantation, was twice attacked by the 
rebels. Capt. Voogt, who relieved him, had also to with- 
stand two attacks. Finally it was resolved to make a 
general attack on the 25th with the whites there and 200 
Caribs. This was done, the rebels being driven from their 
position and about ten of them killed; according to reports 
received to-day they have retreated a few hours' march.... 

There has also been a revolt on the west coast of this 
river, on Mr Bakker's plantation, the manager of this and 
the adjoining one having been killed. But by the Lord's 
blessing this was quickly suppressed, five of the rebels 
being captured and the rest dispersed in the woods. The 
neighbouring slaves having remained faithful this had no 
further consequences. 

Incessantly occupied in reading, writing, and dicta- 
ting it is impossible for me to report more circumstantially 
by this vessel; I am quite worn out and can hardly go on. 



P.R.O. 476/152 

September 24, 1772. 
(Extracts) 

P. C. Hoofd's Indian carpenter, Adam, recently captured 
and placed in safe keeping on board the "Jan Daniel," was 
with the rebels from beginning to end and on being 
interrogated confirmed the accusations against P. Callart 
in all details. He says it was the plan of the rebels, after 
having taken possession of E. Bermingham's house and 
plantation, to have gone to the lower corner of Demerara, 
then to have returned and attacked J. B. Struys' plantation 
and thereupon to have gone to the upper part of Demerara, 
where they thought they would be sufficiently reinforced. 

The brave resistance of the two Williams in Berming- 
ham's house and the loyalty of most of that planter's slaves 



668 STORM VAN 'S GRAVESANDE'S 

(the bomba^ being moreover a real brother of the principal 
chief, Holstein) frustrated their intentions and afforded 
time in which to overcome them. 

The Colony is greatly indebted to those two brave men, 
the more so because they had the traitor Callart in their 
house; according to the declarations of the prisoner the 
latter found means of secretly handing guns and powder 
to the rebels out of a window, in spite of being well watched 
and told by James Williams that if he moved towards 
them, as he seemed desirous of doing, he would be instantly 
shot down. 

How painful it is for me, YY. HH., to find in my old age 
and at the end of thirty-four years of service, and espe- 
cially in such critical circumstances, that in spite of my 
unwearying efforts and persistent admonitions, quarrels and 
discord have reigned not only among the burghers but 
have found a place even among the rulers I 

The Commander ad interim^ is also in high dudgeon, 
being of opinion that his dignity has been attacked. The 
brave van der Heyde, to whom as well as to the stout 
resistance of the two Williams (under the Lord's blessing 
and with His merciful support) the Colony may be said to 
owe its safety, is not at all satisfied with what is being said 
and done in Demerara — in a word, there is a chaos of 
troubles.... 

Now, Your Honours, we have convincing proofs that 
the Colony cannot be held without a strong garrison of at 
least 200 men ; 50 soldiers are better than 400 burghers. 



1 Native foreman. 

2 Here follow details of a childish dispute concerning precedence 
which stops the business of the Courts. 

^ Changuion (see p. 650). 



DESPATCHES 669 

but they must be well-trained soldiers, not the deliveries of 
crimps. 

Had I been able to send 60 or 70 soldiers, well officered 
I think that tranquillity would soon have been restored, 
especially if there had been some Caribs with them to 
search the woods well and hunt the rebels out. 

This was Storvis last despatch, and its tenoiir may be taken 
as cviblematic of his ivhole career — the obedience, energy, 
persistence of a soldier and pioneer marred not only by 
the cavils and petty jealousies of the traders around him 
but by the smaller aims and understanding of the men 
at home so ironically misnamed Directors. The appended^ 
resolution from their Proceedings, after deliberation upon 
Storm's report of the revolt, may also be regarded as 
typical of the policy their body had pursued throughout 
in administering a grozuing and oft-disturbed colony. 
Toy trumpets for Caribs zvJio had distinguished them- 
selves in suppressing a dangerous rising! Even Net- 
schcr, that grave Jiistorian, in recording somewhat 
similar gifts bestowed some three months later, sarcas- 
tically remarks, " We see that the West India Co. did 
not ruin itself by these gifts to its allies^ {Men ziet dat 
de West-IndiscJie Compagnie zich 7iiet ruineerde met die 
geschenkcn aau Jiare bojidgenooten ! {Op. cit. p. jpi.)) 



1 Extract from the Resolutions of the West India Company at the 
Meeting held at Amsterdam, April 6, ///J [Ven. Arb. Brit. App. iv. 
p. 108). 

'' Having read the letters of the late Director-General, Laurens 
Storm van 's Gravesande, dated Essequibo, 29th August and 12th 
September of last year, addressed to the Principal Chamber in 
Amsterdam, reporting the rising which took place there on the 12th 
and 13th August, 

It was resolved after deliberation. ..to send some blue drill, combs, 
beads, toy trumpets and looking glasses to be presented to the Caribs 
who have distinguished themselves in suppressing the same." 



LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORiNlA 

SAM A BARBARA 



INDEX 



Aa (A. J. van der) Biogi-aphisch 

IVoofdenboek, 30. 
Abarina. A W. I.Co.'s negro; sent 

up Cuyuni for information, 1738, 

357: 17(^7^ 555- 
Abary Creek. Quoted as eastern 

boundary, 1748, 239. 
Abomine, a negro, saves Storm's 

two sons, I747-, 230; Storm offers 

to purchase, ih. ; presented to Storm 

with wife and child, 1748., 232. 
Acarabisi. Schomburgk reaches its 

confluence with Cuyuni, 1841, 116. 
Acarai Mts. On watershed betw. 

Essequibo and Amazon, 112; 

reached by Schomburgk, i8j7, ib. 
Acosta (Joseph de) On bezoai 

stones, in History of the Indies, 

264; on drugs, 263, 264. 
Adams (Thomas) Barbarously 

treated in Barima, 1766, 504. 
Adapitu Fall. Passed by Horst- 

man, 17 jg, 169, 172. 
Adriaensen (Aert) See Groenewe- 

gen (A. A.). 
Agueverre (F. ) Venezuelan com- 
missioner for delimitation, igoi- 

igo4, 138. 
Aguigua. Site of first Cuyuni post, 

Ajuricaba. Manao chief, 25 ; ally 
of the Dutch, ib. ; his exploits, ih. ; 
Dutch influence over, ib. ; silence of 
Dutch records, ih. 

Akawoi dyes, 461. 

Akawois. Their history, 175-177. 

Allamand (Jean Nicolas Sebastien) 
His career, 370, 371; sends Storm 
d'Anville'smap, 7759, 37° '■> probable 
medium betw. Storm and Hart- 
sinck, 460; his opinion asked on 
"pyramids," 1766, 502; Storm 
sends him lignum qiiassicE, 506 : 



and ancient remains, 534. Edits 
W. J. 's Gravesande's works, 1774, 

31- 

Aloes. In abundance, 195. 

Alvarado (Eugenio d') Colonel, 
Knight of St James. In command 
of Orinoco, 1734, 316; contradicts 
reports of threatened invasion, ib. 

Amacura R. Fishing grounds ex- 
tend to, 168 J, 20; police-station 
established on, 1888, 130; British 
and Venezuelans face to face at, ib. 

America. Theoiies of pre-Colum- 
bian discovery, 533. 

Ampa. Church there dilapidated, 
1730, 271 : new one opened, 1733, 
308. 

Amu R. [Amurawa.] Passed by 
Horstman, 169, 172. 

Amucu L. Connecting Rupununi 
and Mahu RR., 76; its identity 
with Manoa, El Dorado and 
Parinia, 182-185; Horstman 
crosses, 170, 174. 

Anderson (Charles Wilgress) A com- 
missioner for delimitation, igoi, 
138; ascends Roraima, 126. 

Anglo-French War. Causes 
dearth in Essequibo, 1760, 380. 

Annatto dye. Description of, 289; 
W.I. Co. trades in, 1646, ib. ; stoie 
on the Massaruni, 1700, 24; Storm 
encourages its cultivation, i7S3i 
289; loss of the trade, 176^, 412. 

Antigoa. Planters leave for Esse- 
quibo, 1744, 211. 

Anville (Jean Baptiste Bourguignon 
d') His map of 1748, 63 : based 
on Horstman's, ib. : shown to Storm, 
/7j/, 397 : proves Cuyuni Dutch, 
1738, 357 : sent to Storm by Alla- 
mand, 370 : explained by Storm, 
7759, 371 : invoked re Barima, 



6/2 



INDEX 



389 : Moruca Post inaccurately 
marked, 663. His information 
commended, 358 : sources thereof, 

63- 

Appun (C. F.) Attempts to ascend 
Roraima, 126. 

Aracari. See Aricari. 

Aranjuez, Cartel of, i7gi. To stop 
slave desertion, 64, 65. 

Arassari R. See Arissari. 

Arapata Fall. [Waraputa], passed 
by Horstman, 167, 172. 

Aratacca Fall. Passed by Horst- 
man, 168, 171. 

Araunama. Arawak name for the 
Essequibo, 374. 

Arawaks. Their history, 177-178. 

Aretanna. A Carib chief. Ex- 
amined in Barima, I7j6, 346 ; 
testifies against a colonist, 347. 

Ariaen. A Creole in W.I. Co. 's 
service. Carried off to Spanish 
mission, ly^S, 359 ; still there in 
7765-, 4S9 : in 7769, 603. 

Aricari, village. Horstman arrives 
at, 171, 174. 

Arinda Post. Its situation, 74, 431, 
461-466: route thither, 461; its 
establishment, 1734, 26; its use, 
1763, 431, 462: its advantages, 
464, 465; its removal planned, 
7750, 254: 1764, ^^(), 476. Post- 
holder reports active volcano, 1748, 
249; Jan Stok's enormities near, 
7750, 250, 251; slave trade, 270; 
Akawois near pursue fugitives, 1732-, 
287; Assistant reports on Spanish 
encroachments, 7756, 349; lazy 
postholder discharged, 776^", 412 : 
H. Bakker appointed, 1763, ib. : 
degraded, 776^1!, 470; postholder's 
long silence, 7765, 484 : interesting 
report from, 486; swarming with 
Caribs, 487 ; postholder's influence 
over natives, ib.\ postholder and as- 
sistant fall out, 7766, 515; orders 
for arrest of postholder, 519. Re- 
ported raid upon, 7767, 552: raid 
confirmed, 555: then denied, 557; 
postholder dismissed, ib. : Gerrit 
Jansse (t/-v.) appointed, ib. ; re- 
assuring reports, 7761?, 574; post- 
holder's fear of savage tribes, 616 ; 
last records, 107. 

Arissari, Mount. Its location, 575. 

Arissari R. Passed by Horstman, 
169, 172. 

Assembly of Nineteen. Its con- 
stitution, 143; proposes to abandon 
Essequibo, y6j2, ib. 



Assembly of Ten. Its constitution, 
1 43; invites free trade with Es- 
sequibo, 1750, 144; indirectly 
appealed to by Storm, 143 ; re- 
organizes Essequibo and Demerara, 
777J, 104. 

Ataraipu. Shown to be Storm's 
"pyramid," 78. 

Athing (E.) A colonist. His ser- 
vices and loss, 552. 

Atorai dyes, 461. 

Atorais. Full account of, 462. 

Austin (Thomas) Essequibo and 
Demerara planter, 1762, 399. 

Avechica. On the Supama, 488 ; 
Spanish mission at, ib. 



Baker (Arthur Wybrovv) Captain. 
A commissioner for delimitation, 
138. 

Bakker ( Alpheda Louisa) See Storm 
van 's Gravesande afterwards 
Bakker. 

Bakker (Hendrik) Appointed post- 
holder at Arinda, 776J, 412 ; his 
journey to the "pyramid," 7766, 

500 : brings back sketch of two, 

501 ; his bad reputation, 515. 
Bakker (Johannes) Commandant of 

militia. His instructions in Storm's 
absence, 7765, 486 ; repairs Fort 
Zeelandia, 531 ; opinion on Com- 
pany dispute, 629 ; resigns offices, 
650 ; his death, 777.2, 49 ; revolt of 
his slaves, 665, 667. 

Ballata. Report upon the industry, 
132. 

Balsam copaiba. A product of the 
Colony, 263. 

Bandeyra. See Torres de Bandeyra. 

Bannink (Hermanus) Murdered by 
Indians, 77^7, 231, 269. 

Barama R. Surveyed, 1867, 122. 

Baramanni. Police-station estab- 
lished at, 130. 

Barbados. To furnish lime for new 
fort, 77^9, 198 ; planters leave for 
Essequibo, 77^^, 211, 213 : others 
discourage rice-growing there, 257 ; 
Cr. Clarke, of B.,activein Demerara, 
775^, 281 ; Essequibo supplied with 
ammunition, 1734, 315, 326; aid 
invited for Berbice, 7765", 421; aid 
sent to Demerara, 422 ; B. volun- 
teers march on Berbice rebels, 442 ; 
food sent to Essequibo, 7765, 490. 

Barbados tar, 265. 

Barima R. First Dutch official visit, 
1663, 17 ; Dutch influence consoli- 



INDEX 



673 



dated, /67J, 19; tiadition of a Co.'s 
post there, 239, 388 ; considered 
Dutch by oldest settlers, 388 ; 
influence there developed, 1673, 
19; trade with, ibSo, 20; official 
stationed at, 1683, ib ; Indians 
attack fugitive slaves, 1744, 207 ; 
po.stholder suggested, 64, 207 ; 
Storm's policy concerning, 82 ; 
reason for delay in establishing post, 
1746, i\.1 ; quoted as western 
boundary, 1748, 239: 7759, 369: 
7766, 503 : ijbji 528 ; Swedish 
projects, 1753, 93, 293 : arrival of 
emissaries, I7S4-, 307 ; traders and 
Caribs leave for Waini, 325 ; exam- 
ination in B. of a Carib chief, 1736, 
346 ; first actual settlement, 1760., 
82 ; attack by Spanish, 98 ; B. 
Caribs render aid in revolt, 1764, 
446 ; barbarilies practised there, 
176b, 504 ; settling there forbidden, 
ib.; W.I. Co. on jurisdiction there, 
504, 50-) ; Warouw immigration, 
548 ; Spanish molest Caribs, 586 ; 
Spanish raids reported, 7769, 612 ; 
discovery of gold, 7c5'6'9, 131; Indian 
captains under British jurisdiction, 
III. 

Barima Sand. Police-stationopened 
at, 18S7, 130. 

Baxter, Lieutenant-General. Mi- 
grate-; from Barbados to Essequibo, 
1744^ 213. 

Beekman (Samuel) Commander of 
Essequibo, ibgo-1707, 22. 

Bellin (Jacques Nicolas). His De- 
sert ption...de la Gtiyane criticized 
by Storm, 448. 

Bentinck (William) Heer van Khoon 
en Pendreeht, Count of the Holy 
Roman Etnpire. Account of, 276, 
277; receives Storm, 7750, 37, 
385 ; Storm addresses him before 
sailing, 277; letters from Gedney 
Clarke, I7b3, 421, 422, 433; letters 
to Gedney Clarke, Jr., 426, 427: 
I7b4, 444, 445 ; remarks on Clarke's 
aid, 444 ; Storm begs for his inter- 
cession, I7b8, 589-592. 

Berbice. Number of W.I. Co.'s 
slaves there, 1733, 328. 

Slave revolt, 7765", 415-424: 
details, 420: endangers Essequibo, 
42 : Storm's policy, 88. 

Colony totally ruined, 426 ; 
Barbados aid invited, 421; Indian 
aid, 424 ; aid from St Eustatius, 
426; revolt throws back Demerara, 
433; colony's sad state, 434; 

V. S. II. 



Indians attack rebels, 438 ; danger 
greater than ever, 446 ; home neg- 
lect, il). ; Capt. Smith defeats 
rebels, 442 ; satisfactory turn in 
affairs, 776^, 446. "Bentinck 
papers" concerning revolt, 448. 

Captured by British, 1781, 105; 
taken by French, 1782, ib. ; re- 
stored to Dutch, 77c?j, 106; con- 
stituted a county of British Guiana, 
J S3 1, 1 08. 

Berbice R. Ascended by Schom- 
burgk, 183b, 112. 

Bercheyck ( van). Storm's 

brother-in-law, visits big Carib 
village, 599. 

Bercheyck (Laurens Lodewijk van). 
A nephew of Storm's wife, 335 ; 
provisionally appointed Command- 
ant, 775-j^, 310; appointed lieu- 
tenant-captain, 7755, 335; his 
career, ib. ; provisionally appointed 
Commander of Demerara, 7767, 
387 ; commended by Storm to 
W.I. Co., lb.; appointment con- 
firmed, 396 ; his efficiency, 47 ; 
increase in his salary suggested, 
776^, 396 ; asks for his discharge, 
776J, 424 ; guides troops in upper 
river, 443 ; his conduct approved 
by W.I. Co., 444; his death, 776^, 
452; the losses he suffered, 482. 

Bercheyck afterwards Storm van 
's Gravesande (Lumea Constantia 
van). Born, 770<5', 32, 372; marries 
Laurens Storm van 's Gravesande, 
n^r, 32, 372; dies, 7760, 372. 

Bercheyck (Maria Catharina van). 
Sec Storm van 's Gravesande after- 
liiai-ds Bercheyck. 

Bermingham (E. M.). His house 
defended against rebels, 777^, 664. 

Bermingham (John). Demerara 
planter, 776.?, 399 ; accused of slave 
smuggling, 7767, 559: fined, 561; 
active in foreign slave matter, 7770, 

639- 
Beudeker (Christoffel) Sehoiitonneel 

van Zeeland, 17 17, 153. 
Beverlander (Johannes) W.I. Co.'s 

outlier in Essequibo, 76^6, 148; 

returns home, 1632, ib. 
Bezoar Stones. Description of, 

264. 
Bibliotheque Nationale, Klaprot 

Collection. Discoveiy of Horst- 

man's narrative, 167. 
Bitumen. Found in the Colony, 

265. 
Blauwenberg. See Blue Mountains. 

43 



674 



INDEX 



Blanco (Guzman) President of Vene- 
zuela, 128, 129. 

Blue Mts. Storm's intention to 
mine, 1739, 196, 197; Spanish 
movement towards silver mines, 
17^4, 305 ; well-known copper mine 
there, 468. 

Boeij (W. C. ) Commissioner for 
re-organization of the Colony, ijSg, 
106. 

Borssele (Henric van) Lord of Veere, 

'57- 

Borssele (Wolffaert van) Lord of 
Veere, 157, 158; marries Mary 
Stuart, 1444, lb. ; his title to 
earldom of Buchan, ib. 

Boter (C.) His losses through non- 
arrival of ships, 174s, 215 ; blames 
Storm for Spanish piracies, 1762, 
310; his method of cultivation 
praised, 176J, 428 ; his loss 
lamented, 520. 

Boundary. Perennial controversies, 
5 ; its extent in 770^, 22 ; disputes 
with Spain, 89-102 ; unknown to 
the west, 1746, 220, 225 ; Storm 
anxious for its definition, 1747, 229, 
7750, 267, 775^, 306 ; W.I. Co. en- 
quires respecting, 77^7, 229; Abary 
and Barima quoted, 174S, 239: 
776^, 447 ; defined by d'Anville, 
357 : marked on his map, 371 ; 
W.I. Co. questions Storm's idea of, 
i7Jg, 369 ; Storm's views on, 1760- 
61, 98 ; ideas of oldest settlers and 
Indians, 388 ; Barima as western, 
503, 528 : d'Anville's map invoked, 
7767, 389. 

"Schomburgk line" declared, 
1886, 128; British claim of greatest 
extent, 129; Brazilian and Venezu- 
elan Commission of 1S87, ib. ; Brit- 
ish and Venezuelans face to face, 
131 ; issue joined, 133 ; intervention 
of the U.S.A. i8gj, 134 ; President 
Cleveland suggests arbitration, ib. ; 
Great Britain consents, i8g6, ib. ; 
Treaty signed, 7c5'97, ib.\ Tribunal 
meets, iSgg, ib. : its constitution, 
ib. : its award, 135. 

Brazilians make claims east of 
Takutu R., iSg6, 135 ; settlement 
becomes imperative, igoo, 136; 
Treaty signed, igoi, ib. : its pro- 
visions, 137: procedure, ib.: the 
award, ib. ; a triumph for Schom- 
burgk's line, ib. 

Delimitation, 138-141 : the 
commissioners, 138, 139. F'inally 
fixed, 7906, 141. 



Bouwman ( ) Compiles a chart 
of coast, 1772, 663. 

Bowaron Ollira, 663. 

Bowhill (J. A. P.) A commissioner 
for delimitation, 138. 

Boxhorn (Marcus Zuerius) Chronijck 
vail Zeelandt, 1644, 154-159. 

Boyd of Kilmarnock (Johanna 
Charlotta) Baroness. 29, 30. 

Bracey (John) A settler at Dara- 
wow, i860, 12 1; removed to 
Quimata, 1888, 130. 

Branco R. See Rio Branco. 

Bratt (Edward). Prospects for gold, 
7c?57, 120. 

Brazil. Dutch reverse, i64g, 14 ; 
fugitives from, settle on the Pome- 
roon, 7657, ib.; abandonment of, 
ib., 16. 

Its boundary commission, 1887, 
129; arbitration, 5: treaty with, 
7907, 136. 

Brazilians. Near British frontier, 
i8jS, 113 ; raze British mission at 
Pirara, 114; turned out of Pirara 
by British troops, 1841, ib. 

British Colonies. N. American 
example adduced, 77JO, 256, 257; 
status of Dutch in, 631. 

British Guiana. Its debt to Storm, 
7, 66. Constituted July 21, i8jt, 
108; geological survey, 1867, 121 ; 
declaration of "Schomburgk line," 
1886, 128; organization of North- 
western District, ib. ; boundary 
proclamation of Dec. 31, 1887, 129. 

Bronkhorst (Adriaan van) Burgo- 
master of Utrecht. Storm's step- 
grandfather, 31, 645; Storm's 
quarrel M'ith, ib. 

Bronkhorst aftei-wards Storm van 's 
Gravesande (Ernestine Henriette 
van) Storm's stepmother, 645. 

Brosimum Aubletii, 264. 

Brown (Charles Barrington) Canoe 
and Camp Life in British Guiana, 
78; his account of the "pyramid," 
ib. ; geological survey of B. Guiana, 
1867-71, 1 21-123; explores the 
Siparuni, 7c?7o, 123: the Potaro, 
ib. ; discovers Kaieteur Fall, ib. ; 
his surveys compared with Schom- 
burgk 's, ib. 
Brownrig (John) Essequibo planter, 

776.?, 399. 
Bruijn (Pieter de) Storm's agent in 

Zeeland, 413, 458, 481, 482, 526. 
Buisson (Abraham) Councillor of 
Justice in Essequibo, 194: objects 
to Storm sitting as such, ib.; his 



INDEX 



675 



death, iJSS^ 344 ! his loss lamented, 
520. 

Buisson (Mattliijs) Sent on mission 
to Orinoco, 509; Spanish opinion 
of, lb. ; reports Spanish raid on 
Moruca Post, ijbg, 604. 

Burgher Officers. Appointed in 
Demerara, 1733, 301. Storm's 
proclamations to, i7S4i 3i9-3'25- 
Summoned to repel Spanish raids, 
7769, 608; Roman Catholics to 
be discharged, 1770, 631. 

Burr. Its derivation, 535. 

Burr (George Lincoln) Professor, of 
Cornell University. Attacks Scott's 
credibility, 147; his views on 
Pomeroon, 18. 

Bursera acuminata, 263. 

Bursera gummifera, 263. 

Byam, Lieutenant- General, Governor 
of Surinam. His description of 
the Pomeroon, ibbg, 18. 



Cabeliau(A.)i His Verclaringe van 
de voiage van America, fjg7, 3. 
Passes the Essequibo, 9, 10; his 
voyage induces colonization, 10. 

Calecco, or crystal. Found up the 
Sibarona, i7sg, 169, 173: and near 
to the Mahu, 7769, 618. 

Calecco Mine and Mountain. 
Mentioned in r62j, i r ; known to 
early traders, 13; its position, 74, 
226, 463 ; its location discussed, 
74, 75 ; described by miners, 77.^6, 
226; Indians near, ill-treated by 
Portuguese, ib. ; Jansse's journey 
thither, 7769, 613, 616, 618; ex- 
ploration forbidden by Indians, 
614. 

Callart (P.) Aids rebels against 
Dutch, 1772, 667, 668. 



Calloway (Joseph) Demerara 
planter, 776^, 399. 

Cameron (Nicholas) Prospects for 
gold, 1837, 120. 

Campbell (William Hunter) Pros- 
pects for gold, iSj7, 120. 

Canaku Mountains, 74, 75; British 
settling near, 1S70, 121. 

Canijn (Jacob) W.I.Co.'s outlier in 
Essequibo, 1626, 148. 

Cantineaux (Bartholomeus) Ap- 
pointed manager of W.I.Co.'s 
plantation, i7jj, 308. 

Capuchins. Aid in raid on Moruca 
Post, 7769, 606. 

Carafia. A gum found in Guiana, 
263. 

Caratal district. Discovery of gold, 
7<?J7, ii9._ 

Carawadani. Name in colony for 
lignum quassiie, 506. 

Carbin (J.) Discovers " Kijkoveral 
Diary," 21. 

Cardamoms, 263. 

Caribs. Their doings in the Colony, 
178-181. 

Caron (Cornells) A Pomeroon plan- 
ter, i66j, 17. 

Cartel for exchange of deserters. 
Proposal for, 77^9, 244; impedi- 
ments to, 7769, 592; one concluded 
at Aranjuez, 7797, 64, 65. 

Carter (Samuel) Demerara planter, 
776-', 399. 

Carthabo. Government removed to, 
7771?, 26: removed from, ca. 1738, 
ib, ; Storm's first despatch dated 
from, ib. 

Cassava. A root serving as bread 
for slaves, 209, 210; description of, 
ib. 

Cassia fistula. Found in Guiana, 
264. 



^ Abraham Cabeliau, a Dutch merchant, established first in Ghent, later in 
Amsterdam, emigrated to Sweden at tlie beginning of the seventeenth century 
and was consulted by Charles IX with legard to the foundation of Gothenburg. 
He became burgomaster of that town in 7607 and after the accession of 
Gustavus in 7677 was appointed Superintendent of Fisheries and Director of 
Trading Companies. By his zeal and ability he acquired immense wealth, 
which he frequently used for the glory and defence of the Swedish kingdom, 
maintaining a squadron and a body of troops at his own expense. His daughter 
Margaret became the mistress of Gustavus Adolphus and bore that monarch a 
son, known in history as Gustaf Gustafsson, Earl of Vasaborg. {La Grande 
Encyclopedie and van der Aa, Biographisch Woordenboek.) 

It were interesting to be able to determine with certainty whether the above 
personage is identical with the "Commies-Generaal" of the American Voyage; 
some definite connecting link is still required, and we have therefore not con- 
sidered ourselves justified in including the hypothesis in our Introduction. 



43—: 



676 



INDEX 



Cassia lignea. Found in Guiana, 

•264. 
Cassipa Lake. Its hypothetical 

situation, 466. 
Caximan. A sort of pitch, 265. 
Cayenne. Increase in colonization, 

1764, 476. 
Cerekons. An Orinoco tribe, 609; 
Changuion (Fran9ois) Commander 

ad interim of Uemerara, 177 1, 650 ; 

increase in pay disallowed, 657 ; 

his views thereon, ib. ; dignity at- 
tacked, 777^, 668. 
Charter-parties. Too many signed, 

J7S3^ 296. 
Chiamas. Indians at Moruca Post, 

-^Zx?' .345- 

Christiaense (Sebastiaen) Exam- 
ines Carib chief in Barima, /7j6, 
346 ; acts as interpreter, ib. ; sup- 
plies Spanish Indians with arms, 
7765-, 497. 

Christy ( ) Settles near 

CanaUu Mts., 1870, 121. 

Cinnamon. Bastard or wild, found 
in Guiana, 264, 619 ; W. Indian 
compared with Cingalese, 499. 

Ciudad Bolivar. Its foundation, 
1764, 467. 

Copal gum. Found in Guiana, 263. 

Clarke (Francis) Demerara planter, 
776^-, 399. 

Clarke (Gedney) A Barbados 
planter, 281 ; leads English to 
Demerara, 68 ; erects two mills, 
775^, 281 ; his activity, 39 ; eulo- 
gized by Storm, 41, 286 ; desires to 
aid small planters, 286 ; writes on 
mining projects, 285 ; his sugges- 
tions to VV.ICo. I7j3, 41 : on the 
colony, 295-299 ; reports Spanish 
movements, 77_5'^, 308 : and En- 
senada's fall, 7755, 331 ; writes on 
Demerara, 333, 334 ; urges separate 
government, 41, 334; son to learn 
Dutch, 334 ; supplies food for 
Demerara, ib. ; reports English 
successes, 344 ; introduces new mill, 
7759, 366 ; visits Demerara, 7760, 
378; his accommodating behaviour, 
ib.\ asks leave to build cliurch, ib.; 
contributes towards new road, ib. ; 
fetched by English warship, 379. 
His activity in Berbice revolt, 176J, 
42, 421 ; letters to Bentinck, 421, 
422, 433 : letter from Bentinck, 
426, 427 ; letter to his son, 423 ; 
sends out Barbados volunteers, 442. 
Aids Torres de Bandeyra, 614 ; his 
death, 7765, 479. 



Clarke (Gedney) Jr. His large pro- 
fits in Demerara, 1761, 390 ; his 
account of Berbice fighting, 776^, 
440, 441 ; suggests more slaves, 

440 ; advises measures of defence, 

441 ; letter from Bentinck, 444 : 
from Storm, 448-452 ; letter to 
Bentinck, ^76^, 479 ; criticizes 
W. I.Co.'s methods, ib. ; claim for 
aid in Berbice revolt, 483 ; his loss 
feared, 1766, 525 ; letter to Storm, 
526, 527 : claims rights as a Middel- 
buig citizen, 527 : displeased with 
treatment received, ib. : threatens 
to leave Demerara, ib. : 1767, 555 ; 
his example discourages English, 
ib. ; of great benefit to the Colony, 
582 ; sells his plantations, 7769, 
599 : 777=-, 661 ; difficulty in settling 
his claim, 599 : Rodway's remarks 
thereon, 43. 

Clarke (Peter) Demerara planter, 
776^, 399. 

Clarke (William) Demerara planter, 
776_=>, 39Q. 

Cleveland (Stephen Grover) Presi- 
dent of the United States of 
America. Suggests arbitration in 
boundary dispute, i8gj, 134. 

Climate of Guiana compared with 
N. American colonies, 258. 

Cocoa. Storm advises cultivation, 
17JO, 258 ; its success, 7767, 535. 

Codex sumarouba. See Simaniba. 

Coelesiraboe Creek. First allot- 
ment of lands in Demerara, 174b, 
111, 630 : 7770, ib. 

Coffee. Storm advises cultivation, 
1730, 258 ; first shipment from 
Demerara, J7yg, 367. 

Collaert (Nicholas) Alleges Spanish 
designs on Cuyuni, 1734, 316. 

Conde. A Warouw chief; to aid 
against rebels, 1768, 564. 

Con-o-con Mountains, (Canaku) 

74-. 

Coolie immigration, i j8. 

Coppijn (David) A Pomeroon plant- 
er, 766^, 17. 

Corentin R. Postholder supplies 
Indians with arms, 1768, 584 ; 
parts first explored by Schomburgk, 
i8j6, 8o, 112; its source reachetl, 
184J, 117. 

Cotton. Storm advises cultivation, 
I7SO, 258. 

Courawa. See Peat. 

Courthial (Ignace) His journeys, 74, 
80, 242 ; becomes a Netherlands 
subject, 1746, 241 ; granted per- 



INDEX 



^17 



mission to make a road, 69, 217; 
his road constructed, 174S, 240: 
described, 242: discussed, 70, 71; 
trades in Orinoco, 240; petitions 
W.I. Co. 24I-243; is backed up by 
Storm, 240, 24 1 ; his men report 
Spanish movements, 17S4, 314; 
arrives in Essequibo, 327. 
Court of Justice, Essequibo. Storm 
nominated a member, 1738, 194 ; 
it re-opens Upper Essequibo to 
trade, 250; disputes with Court of 
Policy, 266 ; appoints burgher- 
officers in Demerara, 1753, 301 ; 
hears charges of ill-treating Aka- 
wois, 1736, 346, 347 ; refuses to 
sit in Storm's absence, 1760, 
390 : 17^4, 4-i6 ; loss of respect 
for, 1763., 492 ; forbids settling in 
Barima, 1766, 504 ; re-constituted, 

1773^ 105- 

Court of Policy, Essequibo. Storm 
nominated a member, 173S, 194 ; 
Court difficult to move, 1744, 206 ; 
disputes with Court of Justice, 266 ; 
grants 37 allotments in Demerara, 
1733, 288 ; gives judgment for a 
foreign debt, 290; acts in view of 
invasion, 1734, 317 ; its despatches 
home, 499; receives 60 petitions 
for lands, 177 1, 647; re-constituted, 
1773, 105. 

Couvreur (Daniel) A colonist m 
Massaruni, 349; confirms Spanish 
encroachments, 1736., ih.\ proposes 
to capture mission, 350. 

Cox (John) Demerara planter, 776.?, 

399- 
Crommelin (Wigbold) Governor of 

Surinam. Apprehensive of French 

encroachments, 1764, 476, 477. 

Croydon (William) A planter from 
Barbados, 352 ; abuses rights in 
Suppiname, 1736, ib.\ of great 
benefit to the Colony, 176S, 582. 

Cruysse (Abraham van der) Presides 
over burgher-officers, 1734, 321; 
his method of cultivation praised, 
1763, 428. 

Crystal. See Calecco. 

Crystal Mine and Mountain. See 
Calecco Mine and Mountain. 

Cum ana Governor acts on Storm's 
complaints, 1748, 233: redresses 
them, 1749, 244: proposes a cartel, 
ib.: sends pacific message, 248: 
promises compensation, 1734, 304 : 
claims Cuyuni as Spanish, i73g, 361. 

Cumudi Hill. Passed by Horst- 
man, i73g, 169, 172. 



Cuyuni R. First mention, ibSo, 
19; its course, 466; its importance, 
357; mines in, 196, 467, 535; fer- 
tility of lands, 472 ; its occupation 
projected, 71; regular traders in, 
73; permission to cut a road, 174b, 
111: road constructed, 1748, 240. 

Spanish mission established, 
1746, 90, 220: stops slave traffic, 
224, 225; W.I.Co.'s plantations 
there, 220; Indians seek Dutch pro- 
tection, tb.\ frontier line unknown, 
ib.; Caribs under Dutch jurisdiction, 
225; Spanish rejiorted near source, 
77^7, 2 28 :Finet's report on this, /74^<?, 
239; Spanish kept off by Indian war, 
ib.\ suggested prohibition of Indian 
trade, 7750, 252; two Spanish mis- 
sions reported, 775'.;^, 307: one 
demolished by Indians, 312, who 
promise to guard passage, 326. 

Claimed as Spanish territory, 
7759, 361 ; Dutch rights explained, 
1760, 373, 374; Indians driven 
down by Spanish, 7767, 392, 398 : 
176S, 604; Spanish again active, 
1762, 405; fears of trouble brewing, 
J764, 475; reported Spanish de- 
signs, 7766, 497 ; W.I.Co.'s turtle 
trade in, 1767, 555; things going 
badly, 7769, 615; measures of 
reprisal suggested, ib. 

Indians under British juris- 
diction, i8j6, hi; mining opera- 
tions, 1863, 121; McTurk's 
journeys, i8gi, 132. 
Cuyuni Post. In Pariacot Savan- 
nah, 7700, 23; first official record, 
1733, 71; its situation and use, 
332, 431, 466-468; difficulties con- 
nected with, 73 ; raid by Spanish, 
1758, 11^ 95' 356, 359> .570, 466: 
Directors' comments thereon, 7759, 
362 ; Spanish watching for re-erec- 
tion, 7767, 384 ; still abandoned, 
776J, 431; suggested re-establish- 
ment, 408: 776^, 477: 7766, 497: 
difficulty of, 476 ; re-established on 
Tokoropatti I. 7766, 72, 99; post- 
holder ill, 516; P. Martin appointed, 
518; Caribs assist in re-establish- 
ment, ib. ; its unhealthy location, 
532; Tampoco reports upon sur- 
roundings, 7767, 537; reported 
Spanish raid, 541; Indians obstrep- 
erous, 545 ; necessity of fortifica- 
tion, ib.\ French postholder ob- 
jected to by Indians, 7761?, 570; 
reported raid on Indians, 7769, 
595 ; two missions reported near, 



678 



INDEX 



601 : inspection of these ordered, 
602; its survival, 73; Schomburgk 
iinds remains, 72. 
Cypress. Used for building, 41 1. 



Dally (Richard Bass) Demerara 
planter, 1^62, 399. 

Dalton (H. G.) 'History of British 
Guiana, 18J4, 4. 

Darawow, on the Rupununi; a 
settlement in i860, 121. 

D'Arcy (Robert) Earl of Holderness. 
His meeting with Storm, 1751, 
385 ; his career, ih. 

Davidson (John) The Scottish Staple 
at Veere, igog, 159. 

Davis (Nicholas Darnell) Directs re- 
searches in archives, 21. 

d'Elmina. See Elmina. 

Demerara. Its settlement, 7 ; its 
rise, 66 ; first mention in despatches, 
1746, 2fj; opened to trade, 67, 
217; post abolished, 67, 217; grant 
of land to A. Pieterse, 217; 18 
plantations allotted, 218. 

First report of success, 1748, 

67, 237; hints for improvement, 
237 ; administrator suggested, 67 ; 
delay in his appointment, /7S0, 
256 ; condition of colony, id. ; abuse 
of land tenure, 274; J. S. Storm 
van 's Gravesande, Commander, 67, 
279. 

lis progress, 17^2, 68, 281; 
arrival of Gedney Clarke, 281 : of 
others from St Eustatius and St 
Christopher, 2S8. Itsprogress, 17JJ, 

68, 293; 37 plantations allotted, 
288 ; transfer of plantations from 
Essequibo, 288; river frontages 
reduced, 289; English-speaking 
majority, 292 ; English divine 
service, 40, 292 ; arrival of rice 
planters from Carolina, 293 ; report 
by Gedney Clarke, 295-299; plan- 
teis petition for slaves, 299; 110 
plantations allotted, 301; burgher- 
officers appointed, id. 

Measures of defence, 17^4, 309; 
report by Gedney Clarke, 7755, 
333' 334; Storm's efforts, 334: his 
tour of inspection, 337 ; Essequibo 
jealous, 68 : refuses to unite, 336, 
337 ; burgher-officers' grievances, 
337. Excellence of soil, 351; 
colony's progress, /7Jc?, 356; Clarke 
introduces new mill, /7J9, 366; 
first shipment of coffee, 367: ex- 
cellence of the crop, id.; road to 



Essequibo, /760, 378; scheme for 
new village, id. ; English-speaking 
majority, 379; English preacher 
asked for, id. ; excellence of coffee 
crop, 380. 

Colony's progress, 1761, 385; 
need of increased garrison, 386; 
death of Commander, 387: L. L. 
van Bercheyck appointed, 387, 
396; large profits made, 390; 
Storm's presence very necessary, 
id. ; number and names of English 
planters, 1762, 399, 400. 

Arrival of Berbice fugitives, 
176J, 416 ; measures of defence, 
417 ; colony in peril, 4r9 ; aid from 
Barbados, 423 ; tranquillity restored, 
id. ; saved by English forces, 433, 
443, 444 ; colony thrown back, 433; 
Storm's tour of inspection, 437 ; 
colony's progress, 438 : excelling 
Essequibo, id. ; colonists' discon- 
tent, 438, 439. Suggestions by 
Clarke, 1764, 441. 

J. C. van den Ileuvel, Comman- 
der, 176s, 597, 604, 648, 650, 651 ; 
colony's progress, 1767, 535 ; ex- 
celling Essequibo, 1768, ^"jg ; over 
160 plantations allotted, 592 ; great 
rise in land value, 7769, 624 ; 
English burgher-officers objected 
to, 1770, 631 ; colonists defy the 
law, 632 ; nearly 200 plantations 
allotted, /771, 646. 

Colony's progress, 1772, 659 ; 
re-organization in f77J, 104; P. van 
Schuylenburg first separate Com- 
mander, 105 ; colony excelling 
Essequibo, 178/, 105 ; captured by 
the British, id. ; taken by the 
French, 7782, id. : who erect Fort 
Dauphin, id. ; restored to Dutch, 
/78J, 106. 
Demerara and Essequibo. Form 
new colony, f78g, 106 ; governed 
by a new Council, ^792, id. ; 
directly controlled by the States- 
General, id. ; British re-take the 
colony, 1796, 107 ; restored to the 
Dutch, /802, id. ; final capture by 
the British, /8oj, id. ; ceded to 
Britain by Treaty of 18/4, id. ; 
constitute part of British Guiana, 
/8j/, 108. 
Demerara R. Sounded by Storm, 
218, 530; formation of sand-banks, 

.S07- 
Diguja (Joseph) Governor of Cii- 
niand. Harbours fugitive slaves, 
7766, 513- 



INDEX 



679 



Directors. See West India Com- 
pany. 

Dispute between constituent bodies 
of the W.I. Co. {167J-J770). See 
West India Company. 

Divine Worship. Special building 
proposed, 1744., 213 ; glass requisi- 
tioned for church, 174S, 241 ; 
Ampa church dilapidated, 17SO, 
271 : new roof, 17 j2, 279 ; English 
service in Demerara, I7S3< 292 : 
English preacher wanted, ib. ; re- 
quest for six dozen chairs, 301 ; 
new church at Ampa, //JJ, 308 ; 
Clarke asks to build church, 1760, 
378 ; arrival of the Rev. I. Lingius, 
176J, 407 : his installation, 408 ; 
farewell of the Rev. H. van Greven- 
broek, 407. 

Donacq (Jacques) Brings news of 
Horslman, 1741, 201. 

Doom (A. van) Councillor of 
Justice; misrepresents Storm, 17^2, 
283. 

Douglas {Admiral Sir James) Baro- 
uet. Commander-in-chief on the 
Leeward Islands station, 1760, 392 ; 
his career, ib. ; purchases plantation 
for his brother, ib. ; writes respect- 
ing deserters, 1761, 394 ; registered 
as a planter, 776.?, 399. 

Douglas (G7//a/« Robert) In com- 
mand of English warship, 379 ; his 
career, 391 ; desires to buy planta- 
tion, 1760, ib. ; settles in Demerara, 
392 ; appointed lieutenant-colonel 
in Netherlands army, 176J, 391 ; 
reports all quiet in Berbice, J764, 

4.^7- 
Dressel (M. F.) His ascent of 

Roraima, 1886, 126. 
Dudonjon Qan) His barque defends 

Pomeroon, 17 j 4, 3(6. 
Dutch sphere of influence ca. 1700, 

22: ca. J72S, 83 : in 1763, 76 : 

upon Storm's retirement, 80. 
Dutch. Their status in English 

colonies, 631. 



Ebony. Growing in colony, 264. 
Edmundson [Rev. George) On early 

trade, 1 3 ; discusses Scott's Account 

of Guiana., 14, 147; on Swedish 

trade, 293. 
Eijs (J. N. van) Leaves Essequibo 

for Demerara, I7jj, 339. 
Elmina. Its location, 441 ; slaves 

obtained from, ib. 
English. Own seven plantations in 



Essequibo, 1743, 204 : six Bar- 
bados planters settle there, 1744, 
213; their plantations imitated, 
211 ; their method of refining, 428. 

Supply colony's needs, 1743, 
214: 1763, 490: 7769, 611, 625: 
^77^^ 639, 642; stop supplies 
through protested bills, 1772, 661 : 
demand cash payment, ib., 662. 

Encouraged by Storm, 66 : 
settle in Demerara, 68: Netscher 
on their immigration, 40 ; in ma- 
jority in Demerara, 1733, 292, 379; 
sanguine of Demeraia's success, 
293. Divine service, 1733, 39, 292 : 
1760, 379. Number and names of 
planters, 1762- i7bg, 399, 400. 

E. aid saves Demerara, 1763, 
43, 444: E. vessels protecting it, 
428; E. attack Berbice rebels, 442, 

443- 

Considered harmful to colony, 
1768, 582; objected to as burgher- 
officers, 1770, 63 1 ; impossibility of 
excluding them, ib. Sell slaves in 
Demerara, 1770, 632 ; their treat- 
ment of slaves, 638; attempt to 
land slaves, 639; would profit by 
Pomeroon opening, 654. 

English ships. Suggested dues on, 
1730, 275; frauds of skippers, 1732, 
284: 1761, 386; 40 sailors offer 
colony aid, 1734, 314; E. pirates 
delay Zeeland ships, /7J9, 361; E. 
warship comes for Clarke, 1760., 
379; eight E. barques in Esse- 
quil)0, 1767, 536. 

Ensenada (Zenon de Somodevilla y 
Bengoechea, Marquis de la) His 
biography, 331; influence of his 
fall, 7755, i'b. 

Erijee Manarwa, an Indian chief. 
Receives a captain's commission, 
1833, 119. 

Essequibo, Colony. Forms of 
name, 9; mention by Cabeliau, 
759c?, ib. ; first settlement uncertain, 
10: attributed to Groenewegen, 
7676, ib. ; described in 1623, 1 1 ; 
early Dutch records, ib.; Jacob 
Canijn outlier, 1626, 148; two 
fresh outliers appointed, ib.\ a fort 
contemplated, 76^7, ib. ; abandon- 
ment proposed by "The XIX," 
1632, 143; maintained by Zeeland 
Chamber, ib. ; base of war opera- 
tions, 76j7, 12; Spanish account 
of it, ib.; given up to "the three 
towns," 7657, '43; fi^^ immigrant 
ships arrive, 1638- ib3(), 16; Eng- 



68o 



INDEX 



lish conquest, i6bs, i8; Dutch 
re-occupation, ibbb, ih. ; its pro- 
sperity restored, ib. ; handed over to 
States of Zeeland, ibbg, 144; large 
exports, 19; under direct control 
of W.I. Co., ibjo, ih.\ restored to 
Zeeland Chamber, 144; active 
progress, 19; Hendrik Rol, Com- 
mander, ib. ; free trade controversy, 
7675-/770, 12; trade in interior, 
jjSo, 19; extent of colony, 20, ■za; 
S. Beekman, Commander, ibgo- 
jyoj, 22. 

Boundary, 1704, 22 ; description 
of colony, 23 ; loss of touch with 
Ulterior, i7'5~'735^ -6' govern- 
ment removed to Carthabo, 1718, 
ib.; H. Gelskerke, Commander, 
i'72g-i742, 35, 194, 200. 

Storm van 's Gravesande, Secre- 
tary, 1737-1742, 32, 34, 621: his 
arrival, 1738, 193; tnilitia "almost 
naked," 194; colony's soil and 
climate, 212: its products, 195, 196, 
263, 264; Ilorstman's expedition 
starts, /7J9, 201 ; Storm applies for 
commandership, 1741, 200, 201. 

Storm commander, 1742, 35, 
204, 205 ; seven English plantations, 
174J, 204; Spoors secretary, 205. 
Eack of supplies, 1743-1771, 160- 
162: causes loss of 10,000 guilders, 
2i.s; establishment reform, 1744, 
206; Fort Zeelandia completed, 
207 ; scarcity of bread, 209; general 
demand for discharge, 210; colony 
progressing, 211; Jews excluded, ib. ; 
sugar ousts cocoa and coffee, 212; 
godlessness of colonists, ib. ; dearth 
of slaves, 213; Barbados planters 
settle in, ib. ; construction of Cuyuni 
road, 174b, 11"]; western boundary 
unknown, 220, 225: enquiries re- 
specting it, 229; colony becoming 
populous, 223 ; fishery rights 
violated, 225; danger from Span- 
ish, 1747, 228; map ordered, 229; 
completion of Cuyuni road, 1748, 
240; maps of colony sent home, 
238: 1749, 247; Storm's visit 
home, 36. 

Storm's Report on colony, 17J0, 
252-276: its precarious condition, 
253 : colonists' neglect of duty, 255, 
27 r: paucity of mills, 255: need of 
population, 256 : rice-growing ad- 
vised, 257: plan for subsidizing 
settlers, 260, 261 : new methods 
unpopular, 262 : all river sites al- 
lotted, 274. 



Condition on Storm's return, 
17^2, 279; total failure of crops, 
1733, 294; scarcity of sugar and 
bread, 300, 301 ; removals to 
Demerara, 288 ; report by Gedney 
Clarke, 295-299. Measures against 
invasion, 1754, 309; ammunition 
from Barbados, 326; jealousy of 
Demerara, 7755, 68, 336, 337; 
Akawoi revolt, 340. E. a burden 
on the W.I. Co., 7756, 348; road 
to Demerara, 7760, 378. 

Number and names of English 
planters, I7b2-i7bg, 399, 400; 
colony's condition, I7b3, 432 ; 
saved by English aid, 433 ; its 
growth compared, 7765, 480; com- 
pulsory standstill, 490; colony a 
Noah's Ark, 7766, 520, 572; 
fisheries described, i7b8, 579, 580; 
70 plantations in colony, 592 ; Eng- 
lish aid necessary, 7769, 625 ; slave 
smuggling, 7777, 640; ill-treatment 
of Indians prejudicial, 641; free 
trade petition, 658. 

Colony's condition praised, 1772^ 
659; Indian ill-treatment punished, 
661; planters' bad policy, 662; 
coast allotments, 662, 663; slave 
revolt, i^i, 667; on brink of ruin, 
665. 

Storm retires, 52, 59: colony's 
prosperity under him, 7; territorial 
consolidation of, 65. Re-organiza- 
tion, 1773, 1 04 ; captured by British, 

1751, 105; taken by the French, 

1752, ib.; restored to the Dutch, 
77c?j, io6; takes second place, 77(5*9, 
ib. 

A British possession, i7gb, 107 ; 
discovery of gold, i8_^7, 120; ex- 
peditions sent out, ib. ; British 
development of, 1887-1892, 130- 

133- 

Essequibo, Upper. Post established, 
172^, 26; mining in, 1741-1746, 
74; murder of traders, 1747, 231; 
Storm desires to close, 232 ; the 
upper river closed, 250; re-opened 
for trade, ib. ; enormities committed 
in, 1730, ib. ; the Indians desperate, 
251 ; suggested prohibition of trade, 
ib.\ re-closing advocated, 270; 
murder of colonists, 1753, 302; 
Portuguesemissionsin, 465; districts 
first explored by Schomburgk, 80. 

Essequibo River. Earliest ex- 
ploration, 74-78, 459; unknown 
above Arinda, I7b4, 463 ; sandbank 
forming, i7bb, 507 ; explored by 



INDEX 



68 1 



Schomburgk, iSj^, 112; its sources 
discovered, //'. 

Essequibo River District. Its 
extent, iSgi, 131. 

Exports. Freight rates, 265, 266. 

Ezquibel (Juan d') His name con- 
nected with Essequibo, q. 



Felix, Don. Contador in Orinoco, 

J7J4, 317; contradicts threatened 

invasion, ih. 
Feytler (Jolian Rudolf) Dismissed 

from plantation, //jj, 308. 
Fijn (Francois de) Commander in 

Pomeroon, 1661, 17; describes his 

colony, i66j, ib. ; mentions Groene- 

wegen, 151 ; official visit to Barima, 

17; his difficulties, ib. 
Finet (Christiaan) Cuyuni trader, 73 ; 

his journeys, 74 ; reports Spanish 

in Cuyuni, 1746, 219: 174.8, 239; 

navigates R. Massaruni, 465. 
Fisheries. Description of, S19, 

580. 
Fitzgerald (Cyrenius C.) Holds 

concession from Venezuela, iSSj- 

84, .27. 
Fitzpatrick (Edward) Essequibo 

and Demerara planter, 1762, 399. 
Fitzpatrick (John) Demerara planter, 

Flag Island. Its position, 198; 
government removed to, ca. 1738, 
26; dilapidations upon, 1763, 431. 

Fleming (Gilbert) Lieutenant- 
General. Governor of the Wind- 
ward Isles, 290 ; supports successful 
action in Demerara against fugitive 
debtor, /7JJ, ib. 

Floyd (Samuel) Demerara planter, 

n(}2, 3^^9. 

Flushing. Description of, 156; its 
town-hall, ih. With Middelburg 
and Veere takes over Essequibo, 
i6j7, 144: and helps to found a new 
settlement, 15. 

Fort Dauphin. Erected by the 
French, 105. 

Fort Kijkoveral. Its location, 220, 
363 ; its history, 474 ; suggested 
Portuguese origin, ib. ; Netscher's 
remarks upon, jb. ; Scott's de- 
scription of, 10, 146; its "Official 
Diary," i6gg-i7oi, 21 ; govern- 
ment removed from, 17181 26 ; in- 
tention to repair, 1744, 209 ; pro- 
posal to raze, 1748, 235 ; aban- 
doned, 1730, 254 ; again fortified, 
^755.34'- 



Fort San Joaquim. Brazilian fort 
near Pirara, jSjS, 114. 

Fort Willem Frederik. Erected 
by French, 106. 

Fort William Frederick. See Fort 
Willem Fretlerik. 

Fort Zeelandia. Its location, 198 : 
completion, 1744, 207 : description, 
208 ; dilapidated, 1732, 282 ; again 
fortified, 1734, 311; again dilapi- 
dated, 1762, 402 ; impossible of 
upkeep, /76J, 431 ; works pro- 
gressing, 7767, 531. 

Fortique (Alejo) First Venezuelan 
Minister in Europe, 115; proposes 
Boundary Treaty, ib. 

Fredrica Sophia Wilhelmina, 
Princess, Consort of William V, 
Prince of Orange. Celebration of 
her birthday, 652. 

Freight. Discussion of rates, 266. 

French. Fears of their encroach- 
ments, 1764, 473 ; claim all Guiana, 
ib. ; capture Dutch colonies, 1782, 
105 ; erect Fort Dauphin, ib. 

Frensel (J. M.) Demerara planter, 
1730, 256. 

Fruin (Robert) Dr., Archivist of 
Zeeland. Communicates two of 
Storm's letters, 276, 588. 

Fuentes (Philippe de) Petitions to 
land in Essequibo, 16. 



Gamandra. See Gutta Gamba. 

Gamboge. See Gutta Gamba. 

Garounas. See Warouws. 

Gelskerke (Hermanns) Commander 
of Essequibo, 172^-1742 ; receives 
Storm well, 1738, 194 ; announces 
Horstman's departure, 1739, 61 ; 
his hopes of the expedition, ib. ; asks 
for discharge, 1741, 200; his death, 

1742, Vt,- 

Gelskerke (Johannes) An Assistant, 
drowned, 1747, 230. 

Georgetown. Laid out by the 
French (in 1782) and called Long- 
champs, 106; called Stabroek (from 
1784) until 1812, 106; becomes 
capital of combined new colony, 
I78g, 106. 

Ginger. Growing in colony, 263. 

Goed rond goed Zeeuwsch. Ap- 
plied to Storm, 429, 629, 644. 

Goes (Jan Adriaenss van der) W.I. 
Co.'s outlier in Essequibo, 1626, 
148 ; his wages to be raised, 1627, 
ib. ; is given a sloop, ib. ; visits 
Zeeland, 1632, ih. ; is paid oft", ib. ; 



682 



INDEX 



re-engaged for Essequibo, ib. ; 
visits D. P. de Vries in Demerara, 
i6j4, 149 ; writes home for neces- 
saries, idjy, ib. ; sends home syrup, 
ib. ; aimounces intention to return, 
ib. ; appears before Zeeiand Cham- 
ber, i6j8, ib.; enquires concerning 
Orinoco, ib. ; committee appointed 
to confer with, idjg, ib. ; goes 
prospecting in Orinoco, ib. ; returns 
to Zeeiand, 1640, ib. ; his journals 
and wages, ib. 
Goliat (Cornelis) Cartographer to 
Prince Maurice of Nassau, 16; his 
plan of Middelburg, /6j7, 155, 
156; engaged by W.I. Co., 16^7, 

15, 16; founds a new colony, 16; 
instructions as commissary, i6sS, 
151 ; writes from Nova Zeelandia, 
ib.: from Nieuw Middelburg, i6s9, 
ib. ; his death, 1661 (or earlier), 

16, 17. 

Gordon (Herbert) Holds concession 
from Venezuela, 1884, 127. 

Goritz (Gerrit) Murdered by Indians, 
1747, 231, 269. 

Graham of Killearn (James) Com- 
mands Scotch in Netherlands 
service, 29, 30 ; daughter marries 
Storm's uncle, ib. 

Gravesande (William Jacob 's) 
F.R.S. Uncle of Laurens Storm 
van 's Gravesande, 30; his career, 
lb. 

Gray (Alexander) The Scottish Staple 
at Veere, 159. 

Great Britain. Captures Pomeroon, 
7665, 18; its successes reported, 
7755, 344; Storm's policy regard- 
ing, 1761, 384; Indians seek its 
intervention, 1807, 109: resume 
relations with, 1810, 1 10 : accept 
conditions from, ib. Maintains 
Dutch rights over interior, ib. ; 
claims savannahs near R. Branco, 
I II. 

Grevenbroek (Rev. Hubertus van) 
His farewell sermon, 176J, 407. 

Groenewegen, Town of. Its loca- 
tion, 153. 

Groenewegen (Aert Adriaenszoon) 
Serves the Spanish in Orinoco, 
146; deserts Spanish service, ib. ; 
sent out by Zeeiand, 1616, ib. ; first 
settlement of Essequibo made by 
him, ib. ; erects a fort (Kijkoveral?) 
ib. ; trades with Spanish, ib. ; aids 
Barbados, 1627, ib. ; Governor 48 
years, ib. 
\The above according to Scott. '\ 



His identity with Gromweagle, 
147 ; Scott's account uncor- 
roborated, ib. ; Commander at 
Kijkoveral, 1644, 150; writes from 
Kijkoveral, 164^., 151; his instruc- 
tions as director, ib^8, ib. ; writes 
from Essequibo, ib. : from Nova 
Zeelandia, ib. : from Nieuw Mid- 
delburg, ib. ; written to, 1660, ib. ; 
his death, 1664, ib. 

Various forms of his name, 152. 
Groennewegels \ 
1 Groenwegel | See Groenewegen 

j Groenwegen j (A. A.) 
j Gromweagle j 
Gronwegen, Town of. See Groene- 
wegen. 
Grootendorst (Jan) W.I.Co.'s pilot. 
Measures Waini and Pomeroon, 
^7S3i 289; active in colony's 
defence, I7S4-, 314; his death, 

i75j, .S44- 

Grovestins (Liiitenant • Generaal 
Douwe van Sirtema) Baron van. 
Master of the Horse to William IV, 
Prince of Orange, 281; purchases 
lands in Demerara, 1751, ib. ; 
W. J. Storm van 's Gravesande his 
manager, 1732, ib. ; ships first 
coffee from Demerara, I7jg, 367. 

Grovestins (Louis Idsert van Sir- 
tema) Baron van. Fiscal of 
Demerara, 281. 

Grovestins (Willem August van 
Sirtema) Baron van. Commissioner 
for colony's re-organization, i78g, 
107, 281; Governor of Essequibo 
and Demerara, 1793-1793, 281. 

Guaiacum. Obtained in colony, 
263. 

Gum elemi. Obtained in colony, 
263. 

Gum gutta. See Gutta Gamba. 

Gutta gamba. Obtained in colony, 
195. 



Hall (Elizabeth) Demerara planter, 

1762, 399. 
Halley (Peter) Demerara planter, 

1762, 399. 
Hamalte Creek, 663. 
Hancock (John) Z>r. His expedition 

of 1810, 109-111; his literary 

remains, no. 
Harcourt (Robert) Relation of a 

Voyage to Gniatta, 161J, 3. 
Harrison (John B.) Professor. His 

views on Guiana volcanoes, 75. 
Hartsinck (Jan Jacob) BeschHjving 



INDEX 



683 



van Guiana, ijyo, 4; his indebted- 
ness to Storm, 460; erroneous 
description of Kijkoveral, 474. 

Heijliger (Johannes) Demerara plan- 
ter, 1762, 493 ; appointed Governor 
of Berbice, 1764, ib. ; gives little 
satisfaction, ib. ; receives advice 
from Storm, ij6^, ib. ; discharged, 
1767, ib. ; returns to Demerara, 
ib. ; acts in foreign slave matter, 
^770, 639. 

Herrera (Antonio de) Descripcion de 
las Indias Occidentales, 160 1, 4. 

Heuvel (Jan Cornelis van den) 
Commander of Demerara, 1766- 

1771, 597 ; lacking in method, ib. ; 
his system of tax-collecting, //'. ; 
warned by Storm of Spanish raid, 
i76g, 604; obtains his discharge, 
7777,648,650. His loss deplored in 
Demerara, 651; his efficiency, 47; 
his eulogy by Storm, 651. 

Heuvel (Maria Catharina van den) 
See Storm van 's Gravesande, 
afterivards Bercheyck, aftenvards 
Heuvel. 

Heyde (S. G. van der) His jealousy 
of Demerara, 7755", 336, 337; acts 
as interpreter, 7756, 346; negotiates 
with Indians, 1764, 477; discovers 
the ouarouchi tree, 7765, 485; to 
enquire into Tampoco affair, 176S, 
583; examines Caribs, 598; reports 
concerning Cuyuni, 7769, 615; 
commands Caribs against rebels, 

1772, 664 ; dissatisfied with his 
treatment, 668. 

Heyden Resen (Pieter van der) 
Commander of Essequibo, 1707— 
1719, 24 ; instructed to seek El 
Dorado, 777^, 186, 187. 

Hildebrandt (Thomas) Mining en- 
gineer, 63 ; his reports, 1741-174J, 
ib.; results he obtained, 64; his 
conduct causes failure, ib., 268, 
501 ; is discharged, 174J, 64. 

Hog gum-tree. Found in colony, 
265. 

Holderness (Robert D'Arcy) Earl 
of. See D'Arcy. 

Holmes (^V;- William) Prospects for 
gold, 7(5*57, i^o- 

Hoofd (P. C.) His slaves revolt, 
777.?, 664 ; his murder, ib. 

Hooge. See Huis ter Hooge. 

Hoogenheim (Wolfeit Simon van) 
Governor of Berbice, 415; agrees 
upon terms for aid, 176J, 427; 
asks Storm's advice, 434; receives 
aid from Storm, ib.; at wits' end 



through home neglect, 440; sets 
out to attack rebels, 441 ; thanks 
Storm for Carib aid, 776^, 445, 
446. 

Horstman (Nicolas) His expedition, 
61-63: its start, 77J9, 201; first 
news of him, 77^7, 201, 202; re- 
port of his desertion, 203 ; meets 
La Condamine, 62; La Conda- 
mine's account of, 174^, 167. His 
journal, 168-174: Humboldt's re- 
ferences thereto, 168: its discovery, 
167: its value in Arbitration, ib.; 
his map the earliest of district, 62; 
results of his expedition, 63 : allusion 
to in 1764, 465. 

Hose (Cornelis Pietersz. ) In service 
of W.I. Co. at Essequibo, 765'7, 149, 
150. 

Houbabboe Creek. Company form- 
ed, 7769, 621; chart completed, 
ib.; increase in land value, ib. 

Huis ter Hooge. A Pomeroon fort 
projected in 7657, 16. 

Humboldt (Alexander von) His refer- 
ences to Horstman, 168: to the 
Akawois, 175-177: to the Caribs, 
178-181: to^El Dorado, 182-184: 
to the Manaos, 185, 188, 189. 



Imataca Mts. Explored by Schom- 
burgk, /S41, 1 16. 

Imports. Freight rates, 266. 

im Thurn (Sir Everard Ferdinand) 
His acquaintance with Indians, 
124 ; his views on Schomburgk line, 
125; ascends Roraima, 126; report 
on Brazilian-Venezuelan Commis- 
sion, 7.5'i5'7, 129, 130; appointed 
Government Agent, iSg/, 131. 

Indian Policy pursued by Storm, 
83-89: compared with modern 
British, 86. 

Indians. Trade dependent on, 16S0, 
19 ; early Dutch alliance with, 83 : 
proves valuable, 103 ; employed as 
police, 84 ; Storm's relations with, 
ib.: his consideration for, ib., 88, 
398, 458, 478, 661; their trust in 
him, 1756, 349; their value to 
colony, 641. 

Hunt out fugitive slaves, 77^^, 
207 ; Orinoco I. attack Waini 
Caribs, 77^6, 219; Cuyuni I. seek 
Dutch protection, 220; ill-treatment 
by Portuguese, 226 ; Waini Caribs 
repel Orinoco L, 1747, 227 ; I. 
murder traders up river, 231 ; bring 
Storm information, 1749, 250. I. 



684 



INDEX 



up river desperate, //Jo, 251 ; 
Akawois complain of ill-treatment, 
ib. ; promised satisfaction by Storm, 
ib. ; suggested stoppage of trade 
with, ib. Warned in view of in- 
vasion, iTS4i 3°9 ! promise to guard 
Cuyuni, 326 ; retreat before Spanish 
in Massaruni, 7756, 349 ; unwilling 
to fight unled, 1738, 358 ; driven 
down Cuyuni, 1761, 392 ; armed by 
VV.I.Co., 776^, 404; neglect of 
annatto culture, 412; led against 
rebels, 776J, 424 ; their knowledge 
of mines, 467, 468 ; harsh treatment 
by Spanish, 468, 503 ; repay Dutch 
protection, 776^, 478 ; ill-treatment 
by colonists, 7765, ib. ; Spanish 
I. captured, 496: by Dutch colonist, 
497 ; need of I. interpreter, 7766, 
503 ; obstreperous at Cuyuni Post, 
7767, 545 ; object to French post- 
holders, lybS, 570; Storm seeks 
neutrality, 575; Akawois and Caribs 
at war, 584, 585. None left in 
Cuyuni, 7769, 603 ; driven away, 
641. 

I. safeguard British claims, 104; 
seek British intervention, 7<?07, 109; 
staves of office, 103; Carib chief 
comes down, iSio, 109; accept con- 
ditions of British friendsl^ip, 110; in 
closer touch with government, in; 
captains under British jurisdiction, 
1S16-1S1S, ib. ; settling near Pom- 
eroon and Moruca, 7<?77, 118 ; de- 
sire British missionary on Rupununi, 
113 ; settlements on Pomeroon and 
Moruca, iSjj, 118; commissions 
bestowed by British, ib. ; Indians' 
needs urged by Schomburgk, iSjg, 
114; I. re-assured by Schomburgk's 
delimitation, 119; keep within his 
line, ib. Captains' commissions 
issued to, iSjj, ib. 

Indigo plantation. Belonging to 
W.I. Co., 233 ; unsold at auction, 
1748, ib. 

Interlopers. Meaning of the term, 
12 ; conflicts with W.I. Co., ib. 

Iraquari Fall. Horstman passes, 

170, 17.'.- 

Ireng R. Its junction with Takutu 
determined, 1 16 ; its source dis- 
covered, 140. 

Iron-wood. See Cypress. 

Iruwary Creek. [Yuruari R.], 
occupied by Spanisli, I7jj, 332. 

Irving {Sir Henry Turner) Governor 
of iJritish Guiana, 127 ; energetic 
action against Venezuela, 128. 



Itabo. Indian name for waterway, 
322, 468, 663. 

Itami Fall. Passed by Horstman, 
169, 172. 

Itinerant traders. Their extensive 
travels, 13, 269; their routes, 76; 
their life, 259, 260, 270. Explore 
the Rio Branco, 76, 77; their 
influence over Indians, 1700, 23 ; 
Storm's indebtedness to, 13 ; two 
murdered up river, 1747, 231 ; their 
brutal dealings, ib., 269 ; insufficient 
proof to punish, 250, 269 ; Jan Stok 
commits enormities, 250; suggestion 
to exclude, 269. 

Iturriaga (Jose de) Chief Commis- 
sioner for delimitation, 775J, 357 ; 
Viceroy of Spanish dominions, 
I7j8, ib. ; his action criticized by 
Storm, ib. 



Janss (Adriaen) See Groenewegen 
(A. A.) 

Jansse (Gerrit) Appointed post- 
holder at Arinda, 7767, 559 ; brings 
message from Carib chief, 1768, 
574; praised by Storm, 581. His 
journey to Crystal Mine, i76g, 613, 
616-619; hires Macusi interpreter, 
617 ; describes the R. Mahu, ib. ; 
reaches the Wapisanas, ib. ; is 
well received, 618; finds Paravil- 
hanas, ib.\ difficulty in procuring 
crystal, ib. ; his reconnaissance of 
district, 619; finds saltpetre, ib.; 
obtains specimens of cinnamon, ib. ; 
arrives at Fort Zeelandia, 613 ; his 
report discussed, 69. Instructed to 
explore further, 619, 620 ; sets off 
up the river, 620; ill four months, 
7770-7777, 640; arrives with 50 
Caribs, ib. : leads them against 
deserters, 641. 

Jawaho. The Indian Devil, 501 ; 
dwelling-places of, ib. 

Jesuits. Form Spanish expedition, 
77^6*, 250. 

Jews. Settle on the Pomeroon, 
i6ji, 15, 211; charter granted 
them, 7659, ^11; many arrive in 
Essequibo, 16; "Jews' Savannah" 
in Surinam, 211; Holland and 
So/ne Je~u>s, references to colonial 
settlement, 2(2. 

Moses Isaakse de Vries goes 
prospecting, 77^9, 197 : leads In- 
dians against fugitives, 77^^, 207 : 
his success as jjlanter, 659; Jews 
desire to settle in colony, 1744, 



INDEX 



685 



211, 1753, 301, 1772, 659: pro- 
hil)ited by Storm, 211. 
Jonghe (Jacob Pieteisz. de) Takes 
command of the Pomeroon, 16S6, 
20; his non-success, 21. 



Kaieteur Fall. Discovered by C. 

Harrington Brown, 1S70, 123. 
Keymis (Lawrence) Kelatioii of the 

Second Voyage to Guyana^ ^S9^i 3 > 

his "laos" possibly Manaos, 184. 
Kiltum. A name for rum, 386; 

suggested for taxation, 1761, ib. 
King William IV Fall. On the 

Essequibo, 112; named by Schom- 

burgk, ib. 
Klaprot collection, Bibliotheque 

Nationale. Discovery of Horst- 

man's narrative, 167. 
Knott (Isaac) Demerara planter, 

350; asks leave to cut timber, 1736, 

ib. ; is referred to Directors, //;. ; 

his petition discussed, 351. 



La Chau (Joseph de) His journeys, 
80; sets out for Upper Essequibo, 
1762, 413; discovers gold, 465; 
returns alone, 413; his journal, ib., 
593; manager for Spoors, i76g, 594. 

La Condamine (Charles Marie de) 
Meets Horstman, 62 : receives ex- 
tract from his diary, 167; his own 
account of the journey, ib. ; his 
travels in America, 539; visits 
Stomi's friend Mauricius, ib. 

Laet (Joannes de) Nieiiwe IVereldt, 
162J, 4 ; Novtis Orbis, idjj, ib. 

Lapis bezoar. Description of, 264. 

La Riviere (Jan) Forbidden to settle 
in Barima, 580; his widow's planta- 
tion raided, 176S, ib. 

La Villette ( ) A Demerara rice- 
grower, I7S3. 293. 

Leary (Cornells) English colonist, 
314, 399; promises English aid in 
defence, 17S4, 314; offers loan of 
barque, 316; his slave returns criti- 
cized, 1766, 510. 

Le Clair (.Servaas) A postholder. 
Desertion and arrest, 1776, 104. 

Leigh (Charles) Voyage to Gtiiana, 
1604, 3. 

Lentisk Tree. Found in colony, 263. 

Letter-wood. Found in colony, 
264 ; reason for its name, ib. 

Lignum quassiae. Known in colony 
as carawadani, 506; Storm sends 
to Europe, ib. 



Lignum vitae. Found in colony, 
263. 

Lindgreen (Elias) Sets out for Up- 
per Essequibo, J762, 412; never 
heard of again, 593. 

Lingius (A'czk Izaak) Arrival in 
colony, 176J, 407; his installation, 
408. 

Longchamps. See Georgetown. 

Lonk (Engel) Constructs mill in 
Demerara, 1732, 282. 

Loof (Michiel) Provisionally ap- 
pointed Assistant, /7J'.?, 280. 

Luchtenburg afterwards Storm 
van 's Gravesande (Alpheda 
Louisa van) Mother of the Direc- 
tor-General, 29. 



Macarana Mt. [Makarapan.] Horst- 
man passes, 170, 173. 

McTurk (Michael) His qualities and 
career, 125 ; his expedition in 1S78, 
126; special magistrate, Pomeroon 
District, 1SS4, 128; reports on en- 
croachments, ib. ; arrests foreign 
delinquent, ib.; in charge of Esse- 
quibo River District, 131; his 
journeys in i8gi, 132; re-establishes 
police on the Uruan, iSgj, 133; 
investigates encroachments on the 
Takutu, iSg7, 136; stations a post- 
holder and constables, ib. ; recalls 
his men, ib. ; appointed a com- 
missioner for delimitation, /907, 138. 

Macusis. Full account of, 305. 

Maelen (Jacobus van) A deserter 
reported killed by Caribs, 1768, 
580; returns to Essequibo, 584; 
alleges coercion in deserting^ ib. 

Maganouts. \ 

■,,„ ° . ' Y See Manaos. 
Magnouts. 

Magnouws. ) 

Mahaica. Described as a desert, 
1748, 241 ; W.I. Co. grants land in, 
1771, 647 ; distance from Deme- 
rara, ib. 

Mahaicony. Described as a desert, 
1748, 241. 

Mahaicony Post. Situation and 
use, 430, 460; new postholder, 
1700, 67 ; Caribs seek leave to 
settle near, 7769, 624. 

Mahanarva, a Carib chief. Sends 
envoy to the British, 1810, 109; is 
received by Court of Policy, ib. 

Maho R. Sec Mahu. 

Mahu R. Called Mejou by Indians, 
617; joins RR. Rupununi and 



686 



INDEX 



Branco, 77, 462, 617; traditional 
source in L. Parima, ib. ; Horstman 
passes up, /7J9, 170, 174; Jansse's 
description of, ijbg, 617. The name 
also in Cuyuni,?/;. ; Spanish mission 
said to be established, 307. 
Malgraef (Johan Hendrik) Manager 
of W.I. Co. 's plantation, 1^44., 210; 
slaves rebel against, ib. 
Mana Caboera, 663. 
Manaos. Various forms of the 
name, 85; their connection with 
Manoa, 181-185; their historian, 
184; their location, 185, 186; first 
appearance in Essequibo, 1722, 
187 ; official references to, iJ2j, 
ib.; repelled by the Dutch, 188; 
their later history, 188, 189. 
Mangue Fall. The first in Esse- 
quibo, 659. 
Mani tree. Found in colony, 265 ; 

its description, ib. 
Manoa. Its identity, 182-184; sug- 
gested derivation of name, 189. 
Manoa Company. Holds conces- 
sions from Venezuela, 1884, 127; 
asserts its claim, ib. ; barbarity of 
its agent, 128. 
Maps of Essequibo. In "Journal du 
Voyage, 162J, 1 1 ; one ordered by 
W.I. Co., 1747, 229; one sent 
home, 1748, 238; another, i74g, 
247 ; error in date of Storm's map, 
238; coast chart made, 777.?, 662. 
Maps of district. Horstman's, 1740, 
167; one brought by Storm, /750, 
267, 349 ; d'Anville's map, 17^8, 
357> .S.^S, 370- 
Maraywakke, a Carib chief. See 

Aretanna. 
Marcand (J. Louis) Murdered in 
Upper Essequibo, 17s J, 302, 617. 
Marchal (Pieter) Causes Akawoi 
revolt, 7755, 340 ; his plantation 
attacked, ib.; pursued by Akawois, 
343; tried, 7756, 346; declared 
innocent, 347 ; returns to his plan- 
tation, ib. ; driven away by Aka- 
wois, ib.; enters Spoors' service, ib. 
Marewyne R. French boundary 

with Surinam, 473. 
Maripurma. Chief of the Cerekons, 
609 ; reported evil intentions, 7769, 
ib. 
Maritata Fall. Passed by Horst- 
man, 77J9, 169, 172. 
Markoe (P.) Planter of St Eustatius, 
281; settles in Demerara, 775^, ib. 
Marria Fall. Passed by Horstman, 
I7J9, 168, 172. 



Martens (Frederick de) Piesident of 
the Arbitration Tribunal of 7<5'99, 135. 

Martin (Pierre) Appointed to Cuyuni 
Post, 1766, 518; Indians force him 
to leave, 1768, 570. 

Martinique. Tobacco cultivation, 
importance of, 258. 

Masham (Thomas) The Third 
Voyage... to Guiana, ijgd, 3. 

Massaruni R. Its course, 465 ; 
fertility of lands, 472 ; first mention, 
1680, 19; dye store there, 7700, 
24; Spanish reported near its 
source, 77^7, 28 ; navigated by 
colonists, 465, 466 ; suggested pro- 
hibition of Indian trade, 17SO, 252; 
still little known, 1764, 73; Caribs 
assemble against rebels, 447 ; 
Spanish encroachments, 176J, 494 ; 
Indians under British jurisdiction, 
1816, III. 

Mastic. Found in colony, 263 ; 
description of, ib. 

Mauricius (Jan Jacob) Governor of 
Surinam, 77^.2, 538, 539; quoted by 
Storm, ib. ; entertains La Con- 
damine, 1744, ib. ; his career, ib. 

Maynard (John) Demerara planter, 

n(>2, 399. 

Meijer (Joseph de) Leads Indians 
against rebels, 776J, 424. 

Meijerhelm (Alpheda Louisa) See 
Storm van 's Gravesande afteiiuards 
Bakker afterwards Meijerhelm. 

Mejou R. See Mahu. 

Mendoza (Joachin Moreno) Cover- 
nor of Spanish Guayana. Writes 
re restitution of runaways, 7766, 

5i2> 513- 

Mennes (Albertus Adrianus) Lieu- 
tenant-Captain. Commandant of 
the militia, 17 j4, 309 ; his death, ib. 

Miamo R. Mission on, 307. 

Middelburg. Description of, 155, 
156; plan of, ib. ; its town-hall, ib.; 
with Flushing and Veere takes over 
Essequibo, 7657- ^43 = 'i""^ helps to 
found a new settlement, 15. 

Militia. Reported almost naked, 
1738, 194 ; none but Popish men, 
195 ; Storm suggests changes, ib. ; 
reinforcements arrive, 1743, 215 ; 
discharged soldiers to leave colony, 
259, 260 ; suggested reforms, 7750, 
275 ; inadequacy demonstrated, 
i7S3^ 291; L. L. van Bercheyck 
appointed commandant, 1734, 310, 
and lieutenant-captain, 17 jj, 335 ; 
complaint concerning recruits, 7757, 
354 ; reinforcements arrive, 7759, 



INDEX 



687 



369; increase necessary in Denierara, 
lyhi, 386; mulattoes enlisted, ijbs, 
404 ; weakness in face of revolt, 
/76J, 420; lack of Protestants, 7766, 
498, 500, 520 : 1768, 569 ; rein- 
forcements asked for, ijbb, 521 : 
7767,545; unsatisfactoryreply, 545, 
546 ; more French sent, ijbS, 569 ; 
Frenchmen desert, 586, 5S7 ; rein- 
forcements promised, 7769, 606 ; no 
garrison to oppose rebels, 777^, 665. 

Millikin (James) Essequibo planter, 
{76_=>, 399. 

Mines. Suggested mining in Cuyuni, 
77j'i5', 196 ; Zeeland Chamber's 
reply, 77^9, ib.; Storm's belief in, 
535; ore sent home, 197; mining 
enterprise, 63, 64; engineer sent out, 
1740, 63 ; mining reports, 1741- 
1743, ib. ; miners return, 1746^ 226: 
and are discharged, 227 ; failure 
attributed to Hildebrandt, 268; iron 
and copper suggested, 7750, 267, 
268; silver in Blue Mts., 305: 
copper, 468 ; mines in Cuyuni, 
467 ; kept secret by Indians, 468 ; 
prospecting for gold, 7i?57, 120; 
operations in Cuyuni, i8b^, 121 ; 
gold in Barima, i88g, 131 ; increase 
of M. in Essequibo River District, 
131, 132 ; commission to Massaruni 
and Potaro, iSgi, 132 ; M. in 
Yuruari district, tb. 

Monk (Johan Hendrik) Manager of 
W.I.Co.'s plantation " Duinen- 
burg," 206; objects to fresh regula- 
tions, 77^^, ib. ; good to old slaves, 

Monteiro Baena (Antonio Ladislau) 
Lieutenant-Colonel. Records early 
Dutch intiuence, 25. 

Morawhana. Becomes important 
centre, 1SS7, 130. 

Moronobea coccinea. Found in 
colony, 265 ; description of, ib. 

Moruca Post. Its establishment 
and purpose, 80 ; includes Barima 
district, 23 ; postholder reports 
fighting on Waini, 77^6, 219: 
ordered to assist Caribs, ib. ; Ori- 
noco Indians repelled, 77.^7, 227, 
228 ; de Scharde postholder, 77.^^^, 
469 : defended by Storm, 236; 
restitution of Indians demanded, 
7755, 345 ; removal of post, 7756, 
80; its fortification, 81 ; situation and 
use, 430, 468, 469, 663 ; its trading 
facilities, 469, 519; fertility of lands, 
472 ; Spanish threats to raid, 7760, 
375) 37^ ) warning of intended raid. 



776^", 404 ; postholder's hurried 
return, 7765', 488 : ordered to keep 
Barima clear, 7766, 504 ; necessity 
of fortification, 7767, 545 ; Warouw 
migration, 548 ; D. Neelis post- 
holder, 557 ; Warouws object to 
French postholder, 776c?, 570; 
threatened raid by deserters, 580; 
Spanish raid, 7769, 604, 607 ; good 
conduct of postholder, 607 ; resistsan 
attack, 7797, 8r, 107; Indians near, 
under British jurisdiction, 18 ib., 1 1 1: 
1S33, 119; Roman Catholic mission, 
118. 

Moshack (Jacob Friedrich) A dis- 
charged miner, 77^6, 227 ; ap- 
pointed postholder at Arinda, 174^, 
ib. ; instructed to report on Wa- 
pisanas, 17 jj, 303. 

Moulion ( ) W.I.Co.'s chief book- 
keeper in Middelburg, 7770, 633 ; 
writes concerning the books, ib. 

Munster, Treaty of. Its historical 
importance, 13, 14 ; invoked by 
Storm, 775^, 306; vainly consulted, 

Murphy (Henry Cruse) United 
States Minister to the Netherlands, 
148 ; his translation of de Vries' 
Journal, ib. 

Muster Roll of colony. First extant, 
7697, 67. 



Nassy (David) Jewish settler in 
Guiana, 211; granted a charter by 
W.I. Co., ibsg, ib. 

Nauwarucu Mountain. Passed by 
Horstman, 169, 172. 

Neelis (Diderik) Postholder at 
Moruca, 7767, 557. 

Netherlands. Tegetiwoordige Staat 
der Veree?iigde Nederlanden, 17 jg, 1 8. 

Netscher (Pieter Marinus) Geschied- 
enis van de Kolonien Esseqtiebo, 
Demerary en Berbice, 1888, 4, 7 ; 
Les Hollandais au Bri^sil, 7, 14. 
On Scott's Account of Guiana, 10, 
147 ; on anti-Semitism in Surinam, 
212; on English immigration, 40; 
on Fort Kijkoveral, 474; on 
W.I.Co. , 669: on its neglect to 
import slaves, 48, 162, 300. 

Neuman (Johannes) Postholder in 
Cuyuni, 71. 

Newton ( ) English syrup dealer, 
284; punished for defrauding, 17J2, 
ib. 

Nichols (Benjamin) Demerara plant- 
er, 776^, 399. 



688 



INDEX 



Nichols (Edward) Demerara planter, 
iy62, 399. 

Nieuw Middelburg. Pomeroon 
town projected, 16^^, 16; centre 
of flourishing settlement, j66i, ib. 

North America. English successes 
in, 7755, 344. 

North Western District. Organi- 
zation of, i8Sb, 128; its great 
progress, i8gi, 131. 

Nova Zeelandia. Projected Pome- 
roon colony, idjy, 16. 

Nutmeg trees. Growing wild in 
colony, 264. 



Oanani. See Mani tree. 

Occowyes. See Akawois. 

Ogilvie (Thomas) Prosecutes in 
Demerara for a foreign debt, //JJ, 
290, 291 ; his claims satisfied, 291. 

Old Councillors, 194, 417. 

Omaguas. See Akawois. 

Oosterbeek Plantation. See Sint 
Jan. 

Oreane dye, 430, 431. 

Orinoco R. Dutch trade in, 16S0, 
19; slaves desert thither, IJ44, 65; 
Dutch fishery hampered, 1746, 225, 
226; Dutch cattle trade, 174S, 240; 
negotiations with Commandant, 
233 : iJS^, 287 ; suspicious Spanish 
movements, i7S4^ 305 ; Dutch 
trade revived, //JJ, 339: 1764, 
446 ; swarming with soldiers, 7755, 
345) trade there causes jealousy, 
776.?, 395 : at a standstill, 7767, 
545; Warouws migrate from, 548. 

Orphan Chamber in Essequibo. 
Reforms needed, 7750, 271, 272; 
now scrupulously exact, 775^, 283; 
its survival, 271. 

Ouarouchi. Discovery of the tree, 
176s, 4S4, 485 ; description of, ib. ; 
regarded as nutmeg-tree, 499. 



Pacaraima Mts. Expeditions, 187S 
and iSSj, 126. 

Pallandt {Generaal Johan Werner 
van) Colonel of Storm's regiment, 
629; congratulates Storm on ad- 
vancement, 645. 

Panacays. Their history, 312. 

Panella. On Mt. Cumudi, passed 
by Horstman, 169, 172. 

Para, town of. Horstman's arrival 
reported, 203. 

Parahans. See Paravilhanas. 

Paravilhanas. Their history, 415. 



Pariacot Savannah. Trade there, 

ibSs, 20, 23, 70. ^ 
Parima Lake. Keymis' reference 
to, 7j96, 184; traditional source of 
R. Ptiahu, 617; its hypothetical 
situation, 228, 466; expedition 
ordered to, 777^, 24, 186, 187; 
report of Horstman's arrival there, 
202 ; reported within Dutch juris- 
diction, 174S, 249; visited by 
Sirtema van Grovestins, ib. ; its 
identity with L. Amucu, 181-189; 
Humboldt's references to, ib. ; 
Schomburgk's references to, ib. 

Parima R. Horstman passes down, 
171, 174. See also V^iO ^xTcnco. 

Pataputu Fall. Horstman passes, 
169, 172. 

Pawaricajra Fall. Horstman passes, 
169, 172. 

Peat. Its suggested cultivation, 265. 

Penna (Hieronimo Fernandez de la) 
Secretary to the Governor of 
Guayana, 509 ; arrives in Essequibo 
to trade, 1766, ib. ; his remarks on 
slave restitution, ib. 

Pare (Abraham van) Makes shipping 
contract with W.I. Co., 76^6, 289. 

Perkins (Harry Innes) Ascends Ro- 
raima, 18S4, 126; appointed com- 
missionerfordelimitation, igoi, 138. 

Parrels (J. W.) Writer on the Scotch 
staple at Veere, 159. 

Persik (Salomon) Burgher-Captain. 
Reports Spanish movements, 1747, 
228, 229: and threatened invasion, 
I7S4, 309 ; offers barque for de- 
fence, 316; receives Spanish 
assurances, 317; translates Spanish 
despatches, 7759, 367. 

Peruvian Gum. Found in colony, 
195. 

Petapi Fall. Passed by Horstman, 
169, 172. 

Pickersgill. Police-station estab- 
lished, 18S7, 130. 

Pieterse (Andries) First planter in 
Demerara, 77.^^6, 217, 630. 

Pijpersberg (Engelbert) Navigates 
Upper Massaruni, 466; reports a 
pyramid there, 501. 

Pinfold (Charles) Governor of Bar- 
bados, 420, 444; his assistance 
suggested, 776J, 445. 

Pinto (Paulo Jacomo) Petitions to 
lands in Essequibo, i6- 

Pirara, village of. Schomburgk 
welcomes missionary to, i8j8, 
113; mission razed by Brazilians, 
114; missionary re-instated, 7<?^7, 



INDEX 



689 



ib. ; re-visited by Schomburgk, 
116. Salt found near, 619. 

Pirara R. Horstman navigates, 
170, 174. 

Pistachia Lentiscus, 263. 

Plantijn (Philip) Killed in Akawoi 
revolt, /7jj, 340, 341. 

Playa Point. Fixed by boundary 
commissioners, 139. 

Poiret ( ) Murdered in Upper 

Essequibo, /TJJ, 302. 

Pomeroon. Settlement in i6ji, 
14; "Nova Zeelandia" projected, 
ih^J, 16; early Jewish colonists, 
15, 16, 211; Francois de Fijn, 
commander, 1661, 1 7 ; troubles 
with colonists, /66j, //'. ; early 
histoiy in Veere Archives, 18; 
captured by English, i66j, ib. ; 
description by Lieut. -Gen. Byam, 
i66g, ib. ; colony practically wiped 
out, ib. • names retained on maps, 
ib.; again occupied, J^jg, 19; 
re-opened for traiie, ib. ; trade in 
16S0, ib.; second attempt to 
colonize, 1686, 20; demolished by 
French and Caribs, i68g, 21 ; 
three men in possession, ib. 

Storm's policy concerning, 81; 
surveyed for plantations, ^753^ 
289 ; defence against threatened 
invasion, i7S4i 3 '6; timber con- 
cessions sought, 7756, 350; opening 
opposed by Storm, 351: 177 11 
654; no profit to W.I. Co., 352; 
Dutch occupation shown, 1760, 
373; fertility of lands, 472; Indians 
report Spaniards' arrival, 176J, 
488; Indians under British juris- 
diction, 1816., m; Indians settle 
near, 18 17, 118; Indian settle- 
ments on, 1833, ib. 

Pomeroon R. Its shallow entrance, 

Portuguese. Ill-treatment of 
Indians, /7^6, 227; seize mines 
near Orinoco, 17^4, 314, 315; 
ill-treat Manaos, 1762, 414: their 
indebtedness to latter, 464; their 
missions near Essequibo, 465. 

Posts. Storm's treatise on, 460- 
473 : its main inferences, 76. 

Potaro R. Explored by Barrington 
Brown, iSjo, 123. 

Products, of Essequibo, 195, 196, 
263, 264. 

Protested bills. Their cause, 300, 
65,^, 654; their results, 7769, 623: 
7777, 642, 651, 652: 1772, 661; 
lead to financial chaos, 662. 

V. S. II. 



Pulgar (General Venancio) Holds 
concession from Venezuela, 1881, 
127. 

Puruni R. Surveyed, 7^6c?, 122. 

Pyramid. Its position, 77-79, 463, 
464; accounts of, 77, 78, 500-502; 
drawings brought, 7765, 487 : 7766, 
501; Prof. Allamand's opinion 
asked, 502; W.I. Co. desires 
further examination, ib. ; Storm 
discusses origin, 533; first marked 
on map, 7<?70, iio; described by 
Schomburgk, 78 ; identified as 
Ataraipu, 78, 79; others in Mas- 
saruni, 78, 466, 5or. 



Quassiae lignum, 506. 

Quassia fistula. See Cassia fistula. 

Quassia ligna. See Cassia lignea. 

Quelch (J. J.) His ascent of 
Roraima, iSgj, 126. 

Quimata. im Thurn visits, 1888, 
130. 

Quitaro R. Explored by Barring- 
ton Brown, i86g, 123. 



Radix china. Found in colony, 

195. 
Radix jalappa. Found in colony, 

264. 
Raleigh (5'z> Walter) Tlie Discoverie 

of Guiana, i^gb, 3. 
Rappard (Frans Alexander van) 

His interest in Storm, 276. 
Reddan (James Henry) His interest 

in the boundaries question, 119. 
Registers, compiled by Storm, ijbs- 

^7^9, 399-400. 
Renaud (Jean) Assists rebels in 

Berbice, 776J, 442. 
Rewa R. Flows into Rupununi, 123. 
Reygersberg ([an) Dye Cronijcke 

van Zeelandt, ijji, 157: Boxhorn's 

edition, 1644, '.'^4' '55 = Smalle- 

gange's edition, i6g6, i^^. 
Ribeiro de Sampaio (Francisco 

Xavier) His diary, 25 ; records 

early Dutch influence, ib. ; writes 

of the Manaos, 184, 185. 
Rice. Cultivation urged, 7750, 257; 

cultivation in Demerara, 17SJ, 293 ; 

its later cultivation, i8gS, 257. 
Richter (Jan Christoffelj Manager 

of " DujTienburg" plantation, 547; 

accuses Storm of disloyalty, 1767, 

ib. 
Rietstap (J. B.) Heraldieke Biblio- 

theek, 28. 

44 



690 



INDEX 



Rijst (Chiistiaen) Reported return 
from Horstman expedition, 1741, 
102 : his desertion, 203. 
Rio Branco. Dutch traders explore, 
77 ; British claim to savannahs 
near, iii. See also Parima R. 
Rio Negro. Horstman passes down, 

171, 174. 
Roberts (William) Demerara plant- 
er, ijbs, 400. 
Rode (van) Erects a mill in Deme- 
rara, 1732, 282. 
Rodemeyer (Hendrik) Deserter 

killed by Caribs, ijbS, 580. 
Rodney (George Brydges) Baron. 
Commander-in-chief of H.B.M.'s 
squadron on the Leeward Isles 
Station, 1762, 392 ; demand for his 
aid suggested, 1763, 445. 
Rodway (James) History of British 
Guiana, i8gi~i8<p4, 4 ; his remarks 
on Clarke's claim, 43 ; on meanness 
of W.I. Co., ib. 
Rol (Hendrik) Commander of 

Essequibo, 1670, 19. 
Roman Catholic mission onMoruca, 

1833, 118. 
Ronij (Leonardo) Accompanies 

Horstman, 168, 171. 
Rooij (William de) settles on the 

Rupununi, 121. 
Roraima. Its situation, 126 ; dis- 
covered by Schomburgk, 116; 
ascended in 1884, 126 : by bound- 
ary commissioners, jgo4, 139; suc- 
cessive ascents enumerated, 126. 
Rosen (Jan Adolph van) Causes 
trouble on the Barima, 1766, 82, 
504 ; his trial and sentence, 504. 
Rousselet de la Jarie (Nicolas) 
Secretary and sales-master, 7765, 
483 ; envoy to Orinoco, 7766, 509 ; 
returns with unsatisfactory reply, 
510; his difficulty with W.I.Co.'s 
books, 634 ; his death, 7767, 546 ; 
his services, ib. ; sale of his estate, 
176^, 623; his widow attacks 
Storm, 624. 
Rowan (John) Demerara planter, 

776.?, 400. 
Royal Geographical Society. 
Commissions Schomburgk to ex- 
plore, III. 
Ruijsch. See Rijst. 
Rupununi R. Its connection with 
Mahu, 76 ; reached by traders, 
7700, 24 ; Horstman proceeds up, 
^739 f 17O' '73! -^'tfi for Post 
Arinda, 254 ; explored by Schom- 
burgk, 1833, 112 ; Indians desire 



British missionaiy, 113 ; British on 
savannahs beyond, i8go, 132. Its 
products, 462, 463 ; cinnamon in, 
500. 



Saba, Island of. Description, 282 ; 

planters leave for Demerara, 1752, 

lb. 
Saint Christopher. Planters leave 

for Demerara, 1732, 288. 
Saint Eustatius. Description, 281 ; 

planters leave for Demerara, 1732, 

ib., 288 ; aid sent to Berbice, 7767, 

426. 
Saint George del Mina. See 

Elmina. 
Salt. Found on Pirara savannah, 

619: analysis of, ib. 
Saltpetre. Found near the Mahu, 

619. 
Sampson (Ralph) Demerara plant- 
er, 776^, 400 ; lets his barque to 

colony, 776^, 428. 
San Thome. Burnt by the Dutch, 

76j7, 12; its removal in 1764, 

467. 
Sarsaparilla. " In abundance," 

195- 

Sawkins (James G.) His survey of 
B. Guiana, 1S67-1870, 121-123. 

Scharde (Jan de) Postholder at 
Moruca, 77^1?, 469, 470, 519; his 
profits, 470, 519. 

Scharde (Aegidius de) Demerara 
planter, 519 ; his doubts concerning 
Tampoco, 577. 

Scherpenisse. A town in Zeeland, 
152; its possible connection with 
Groenewegen, 150, 152, 153. 

Schinus moUe. Mastick obtained 
from, 263. 

Schomburgk (Richard) Accom- 
panies his brother to Guiana, 1840, 
115, 1 16; his Reise)i in Britisch 
Giiia?ta, 116: translation of ex- 
cerpts, ib. ; settles in Australia, 
j84g, ib. ; director of Botanic Gar- 
dens, Adelaide, 1866, ib. ; his 
death, j8go, ib. 

Schomburgk [Sir Robert Hermann) 
His exploration of British Guiana, 
80, 111-117; his reports, in: 
compared with accounts 80 years 
earlier, 77; proceeds up the Es- 
sequibo, 112; halts at Annai, ib.; 
explores the Rupununi, ib.; finds 
remains of Dutch posts, 72 ; names 
King William IV's Fall, 76; de- 
scribes the pyramid, 78; ascends 



INDEX 



691 



Corentin and Berbice rivers, 112; 
discovers Essequibo sources, ib.\ 
reaches the Acarai Mts., ib; his 
i"epresentations concerning Indian 
needs, 114. Commissioner for de- 
limitation, 115; his travels, 1841- 
1S4J, 116, 117; discovers Roraima, 
116; explores the Wenamu, 117; 
discovers sources of the Trombetas, 
ib. ; reaches source of the Corentin, 
ib. ; his reports buried 50 years, ib. ; 
his delimitation re-assures Indians, 
119: they keep within his line, 
ib.: which is declared definitive 
boundary, 18S6, 128. Appreciation 
of his work, 140: and justification, 
141. 

Schutz (Niels Andries) Emissary 
to Orinoco, 371; Spanish opinion 
of, 509. 

Schuylenburg (Paulus van) First 
separate commander of Demerara, 
105. 

Scott [A/ajoi- John) Geographer to 
Charles II., 10; his Account of 
Guiana, ibbg (?), ib. ; describes 
foundation of Essequibo, 146; dis- 
credited by Netscher, 10, 147: by 
Prof. G. L. Burr, 147; favourably 
criticized by Rev. G. Edmundson, 
147, and Sir J. A. Swettenham, ib. 
His account of Pomeroon settle- 
ment in, ib^i, 15. 

Shanks (James) Prospects for gold, 
iS^-j, 120. 

Shawhauns. See Wapisanas. 

Shier, Dr. Prospects for gold, iSjj, 
120. 

Sibarona R. See Siparuni. 

Simaruba, or bitter- wood, 264. 

Simmons (John) Demerara planter, 
ijbj, 400. 

Simon ( ) Joins Hancock's ex- 
pedition, iSio, no. 

Simons (Edward) Leaves Nevis for 
Demerara, IJSJ, 289 ; lands allotted 
him, ib.\ condemned to pay old 
debt, 290; placed in confinement, 
ib.\ his slaves defy the law, 291; 
satisfies his prosecutor, ib. 

Simons (Thomas) Demerara planter, 
i'jb2, 400. 

Sint Jan plantation. Assistance 
wanted against Indians, /750, 251 ; 
attacked by Akawois, iJSSi .^40- 

Siparuni R. Explored by Horst- 
man, ijjg, 169, 173; knowledge 
of, 76; active volcano reported, 75, 
249 ; explored by Barrington Brown, 
iSyo, 123. 



Sirtema (D. van) Visits Lake Parima, 
249; joins Hancock's expedition, 
18 10, no. 

Sirtema van Grovestins. See 
Grovestins. 

Skins procurable, 264. 

Slaves. Non-supply retards progress, 
38, 162, 213, 299, 594; colonists 
buy from English, ijjo., 632 ; 
W.I. Co. complains of foreign im- 
portation, 636: Storm asks for 
proofs, ib. ; foreign importation 
frustrated, 639: continues, ijji, 
640, 642, 644: causes protested 
bills, 653. Netscher on smuggling, 
300. 

Unwilling tlirough want, 174S1 
214; desertion to the Orinoco, 65; 
brave demeanour against Spanish, 

1754^ 94- 
Slave Trade. A knotty point, 299, 
300; W.I. Co. versus private trade, 

594- 

Smallegange (M.) Cronijck van 
Zeclaiid, ibgb, 155, 157. 

Smilax officinalis H.B.K. Found 
in colony, 195. 

Smit (Jan) Risks his life, 1747, 230. 

Smith [Captain Jacob) Commands 
English auxiliaries, I7t>3, 443! 
commands Dutch and English 
forces, 442 ; his bravery com- 
mended, ib.\ defeats the rebels, 
ib. ; his expedition saves Demerara, 
4.M- 

Smith (Servaes) Deserts with French 
to Orinoco, jjbS, 588. 

Snake-bites, remedy for, 264. 

Soestdijk. Plantation belonging to 
Storm van 's Gravesande family, 
367 ; produces first Demerara 
coffee, ib. 

Somersall (Anthony) Demerara 
planter, I7b2, 400 ; attempts to 
smuggle slaves, 1770, 639. 

Spain. Boundary disputes with, 
89-102. 

Spanish. Mission established near 
Cuyuni, 174b, 220, 90: stops slave 
traffic, 225. Reported near 
Cuyuni and Massaruni sources, 
1747, 228; Zeeland Chamber 
suggests dislodgment, 229. S. 
trade retarded, i'J48, 236; advance 
in Cuyuni stopped, 239. Their 
discoveries in 1748, 249; con- 
tinually nearing the colony, iJS'^y 
i6i\ complain of injuries by 
Caribs, 268. Rumoured hostile 
intentions, 17S4, 93; suspicious 

44—2 



692 



INDEX 



movements in Orinoco, 305 : 
Clarke's report on, 308. Two 
missions reported in Cuynni, 307 : 
location thereof, 90 ; Caribs furious 
against S., 311, 312: and demolish 
mission, 312. S. contradict 
threatened invasion, 316; secret 
negotiations against Dutch, 94; 
S. administration of colonial 
provinces, 96; feared invasion 
groundless, 1735, 327, 330. Re- 
ported raid on Dutch territory, 
332 ; S. 10 or 12 hours from Dutch 
post, ib. ; war scare over, 339. 
Demand Indians at Moruca Post, 
34:,. Reports of encroachments, 
7756, 349; raid Cuyuni Post, i^S^i 
95> 356) 357; Storm demands 
satisfaction, 360, 363-365 : unsatis- 
factory reply, 365, 366. S. claim 
to the Cuyuni, 96 ; driving Caribs 
away, I7j<p, 36S. S. harassed in 
Orinoco, ib. ; agree to deliver up 
fugitives, ib. Attack Barima, 
1760, 98; seize Dutch boats, 376; 
threaten to raid Moruca Post, ib. 
S. trade prohibited in Essequibo, 
383 ; fresh descent upon Moruca, 
100, loi. Watching for re-erec- 
tion of Cuyuni Post, 1761, 384; 
drive Indians down the Cuyuni, 
392 ; create disturbances there, 
IJ62, 397, 398. Intended raid on 
Moruca Post, 404 ; S. again re- 
ported active in Cuyuni, 405; 
gradually Hearing the Post, 467. 
Their treatment of Indians, 468; 
S. trade at Moruca Post, 468, 469; 
a S. party in Pomeroon, 1763, 488. 
S. Mission visited by Dutch spy, 
ib. • its situation and harm fulness, 
ib. ; reported activity, 489 ; en- 
croachments feared, ib.; reported 
trespassing in Massaruni, 494 ; S. 
Indians brought before Storm, 
496; reported designs upon 
Cuyuni, 1766, 497. Their cruelty 
in mining, 503; refusal to co- 
operate in Barima, 528 ; report on 
S. Mission in Cuyuni, 537; 
reported raid on Cuyuni Post, 
7767, 541 ; suggested measures 
against, 541, 542; S. deserters 
to leave Essequibo, 545. Storm's 
distrust of, 553 : describes their 
governors, ib., 582. S. join Dutch 
deserters in Barima, 776c?, 580 ; 
attack W.I.Co.'s salters, 585, 586; 
molest Caribs, 586. Reluctance 
to conclude a cartel, 7769, 592; 



raid on Indians near Cuyuni Post, 
595; deserters seek Cuyuni mission, 
600. Two missions reported in 
Cuyuni, 601: Storm orders inspec- 
tion, 602, 633. Reported raid on 
Moruca Post, 604; raiding between 
Barima and Pomeroon, 606, 607, 
612, 615. Remonstrance suggested 
to the States-General, 608; S. 
threaten to attack Fort Zeelandia, 
613; measures of reprisal sug- 
gested, 615; S. prevent salting 
along coast, 624; their threats not 
feared, 7770, 635. Storm desires 
to trade with Orinoco, 1772, 660. 
S. unsuccessfully attack Moruca 
Post, 7797, 107; S. missions 
destroyed, 1S17, 118. 
Spoors (Adriaan) Manager of the 
W.I.Co.'s plantation, "De Pel- 
grim," 201 ; proposed by Storm 
for secretary-ship, 77,^7, ib. : ap- 
pointed, 1742, 205, 206, 633 ; 
vindicated and praised by Storm, 
77^1?, 234; Storm's loctiJH tenens, 
1730-1732, 252 ; reports on 
Spanish missions, 92; acts con- 
jiaictitn with Director General, 37, 
38; his relations with latter, ib., 
163, 164; visits Europe, 77^7, 
297; W.I. Co. declines his request 
for discharge, 7759, 368 ; ill, 7760, 
379; his rations doubled, 776^, 
397 ; his action as salesmaster 
criticized, 450; loses his sight, 
1764, 45, 163, 457, 459; terms 
of his discharge, 633 ; again 
visits Europe, 516; returns to 
colony, 7766, ib. ; defends English 
slave smuggler, 7767, 559, 569; 
questions Storm's veracity, 560; 
misrepresents Storm's conduct, 
565 ; refuses to act in Stoim's 
absence, 566; blamed for neglect 
of duty, 567 ; his opposition to 
acreage dues, 568; his death, 
776<?, 163, 594; his arrears of 
work, 633. 
Stabroek. Laid out by French and 
called Longchamps, 105, 106; 
becomes capital of combined new 
colony, 77i5'9, 106. 
States-General. Their Remon- 
strance to Spain re Cuyuni raid, 
7759. 97; demand Storm's letters 
re Berbice revolt, 176J, 45 1 ; their 
action on the W.I.Co.'s represen- 
tations, Jf76g, loi, 102; invite 
arbitration on free trade dispute, 
7770, 144. 



INDEX 



693 



Stewart (Daniel) Essequibo planter, 
1762, 399. 

Stock-ranch. Storm's scheme for, 
'750, 272-274. 

Stok (Jan Baptist) Regular Cuyuni 
trader, 73; his journeys, 74; sees 
Portuguese missions up Essequibo, 
465; returns from Upper Cuyuni 
with false news, 17 46, 220; com- 
mits enormities, 1730, 250; warrant 
issued for arrest, 251. 

Storm (Gerard) Heer van Hoogeveen. 
Burgomaster of Gouda ; his death, 
7757, 644. 

Storm van 's Gravesande. De- 
scent of the Netherlands family, 
29, 30. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Alpheda 
Louisa) Mother of the Director- 
General. See Luchtenburg after- 
wards Stomi van 's Gravesande. 

Storm van 's Gravesande after- 
'wards Bakker aftenvards Meijer- 
helm (Alpheda Louisa) Daughter 
of the Director General. Birth and 
career, 33. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Joitkheer 
Carl Marius) 29. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Dirk) 
b. 76^6, 28, 29. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Ernes- 
tine Henriette) See Bronkhorst 
aftci~sjards Storm van "s Grave- 
sande. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Ewout 
Hendrik) b. 16S4 ; his career, 29. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Gerard 
Johan) b. 77^0 ; his career, 32 ; his 
death, 1764, 45. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Jeremias) 
b. i74g ; goes to Europe, 776^;, 45 ; 
cost of his education, 482 ; com- 
mended to protection of Prince of 
Orange, 7766, 550; called home by 
his father, 523 ; recommended to 
Bentinck's protection, 1767, 589 ; 
applies for salesmastership in De- 
merara, 1773, ih. 

Storm van's Gravesande (Jonathan 
Samuel) b. 1728, 32 ; career, ib. ; 
appointed ensign, 1744, ib. ; com- 
mander of Demerara, 7750, 37 ; 
takes the oath, 775^, 279 ; his salary 
and position, I75S-, 329 ; harshly 
treated by Directors, ib. ; his death, 
7767, 386, 387 ; compared with his 
successors, 47. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Laurens) 
Great-grandfather of the Director- 
General ; b. 760J, 28. 



Storm van 's Gravesande (Laurens) 
General. 

770^. Born at 's Hertogenbosch, 
629: Oct. 12, 22, 31, 516; /7.?7, 
enters army, 31 ; 77^7, marries, 
32; 1731, quarrels witli burgomaster 
of Utrecht, 645 ; loses promotion, 
ib.\ accepts post in W.LCo., 32 ; 
congratulated by Generaal van 
Pallandt, 645 ; 77J7, takes the 
oath as Secretary of Essequibo, 
621. 

1738. Arrives in Colony, May 
13, 434, 621 ; promotes important 
enterprises, 6r ; takes his seat in 
Courts, 194 ; offers to complete new 
fort, 195 ; reports on its site, 198, 
199; constructs, 34, and describes 
it, 207, 208. Reports on Colony's 
products, 195,196; suggests mining, 
63, in Cuyuni, 196 ; intends to 
prospect in person, 63 ; semis home 
ore, 197; proposes closing W. LCo.'s 
shop, 199; early letters not directly 
answered, 645 : his chagrin thereat, 
ib. 

1739- Equips Horstman's ex- 
pedition, 61 ; 77^0, orders explora- 
tion of Upper Essequibo, 77, 501 ; 
77^7, applies for commandership, 

200 ; proposes Spoors as Secretary, 

201 ; sends first news of Horstman, 
201, 202 ; reports more fully, 202, 
203. 

77^.?. Provisionally appointed 
Commander, 201 : 77^j, thanks for 
approval thereof, 204; appointment 
made definite, ib. 35, 64 : his 
thanks, 205 ; pleased with Spoors' 
appointment, 205, 206. 1744, 
Institutes reforms, 206 ; intends 
repairing Kijkoveral, 209 ; sup- 
presses slave revolt at Poehvijk, 
210; prohibits Jews from settling, 
211 ; praises Colony's soil and 
climate, 212 ; deplores godlessness 
of colonists, lb.; is generally beloved 
but thwarted, ^b. ; suggests post- 
liolder for Barima, 64 ; proposes 
special building for divine worship, 
213 ; 174b, explains working of 
W.I.Co. 's plantations, 221 ; his 
complaint against other officials, 
224 ; feels want of good interpreter, 
226 ; his indebtedness to itinerant 
traders, 13 ; 77^7, desires to close 
Upper Essequibo, 232, 269 ; pre- 
sented with negroes, 232 ; his grati- 
tude, 233 ; vindicates Spoors, 234 ; 



694 



INDEX 



Storm van 's Gravesande (L. ) 

[coiit.) 
sends map of Essequibo, -2.^8 ; 1748, 
commends Courthial's petition, 240, 
241 ; vindicates officials against 
charge of dishonesty, 246, 247 ; 
1749, moves into new house, 411 ; 
applies for permission to visit 
Europe, 245 ; ser ds map, 248. 

lyjo. Sails for Zeeland, 36, 
252 ; reason for his visit home, 253 ; 
presents report on the Colony, 252- 
276 ; advises abandonment of bread 
plantation, 254; orders removal of 
Post Arinda, ib. ; deplores paucity of 
mills, 2^^ ; urges greater population, 
256 ; advises rice cultivation, 257 ; 
his advice followed, ib. ; compares 
timber with N. American, 258 : 
also climate, ib. ; suggests various 
products for cultivation, ib.\ dis- 
courages small sugar holdings, ib. ; 
proposes subsidizing settlers, 260; 
blames colonists' want of enterprise, 
262 ; enumerates Colony's products, 
263, 264 ; suggests construction of 
saw-mills 265 : lower homeward 
freights, ib. : adjustment of differ- 
ences between the Courts, 266 : 
mining foriron and copper, 268; con- 
demns wantonness ot traders, 269 ; 
advocates closing Upper Essequibo, 
270 ; urges reform of Orphan Cham- 
ber, 271 : in W.I.Co.'s smithies, 272; 
submits scheme for stock-ranch, 
272-274; advises retrenchment in 
wages, 274 : re-establishment of 
W.I.Co.'s shop, 276. Submiismap, 
71, 349; is received by Prince of 
Orange, 472, 645 : and shown 
d'Anville's map, 397. iJS^t Vrt- 
dicts failure of "great reform," 412 ; 
dines at Count Bentinck's, 385 : 
meets Lord Holderness, ib. ; inter- 
view with Heer van Wassenaer, 
572 ; writes to Count Bentinck, 
277; his farewell tothe Netherlands, 

37- 

17J2. Arrives in Essequibo, 

278; reports on condition of Colony, 

279; exhibits his commission (as 

Director-General), ib. ; disagrees 

with Spoors, 280; discharges his 

son from W.I.Co.'s service, ib.; 

engages a writer at his own cost, 

ib. ; his authority impaired, 37, 

429, 436; complains of unworthy 

treatment, 283 ; ijjj, encourages 

cultivation of annatto, 289; orders 

survey of Pomeroon and Waini, ib. ; 



his policy relating thereto, 8f; 
gives desolate report of Essequibo, 
294; remonstrates concerning num- 
ber of charter-parties, 296; com- 
putes W.I.Co.'s sugar yields, 297; 
his intentions concerning Jewish 
immigrants, 301 ; I7S4^ complains 
of want of ammunition, 309, 312; 
reports measures taken against in- 
vasion, 309: and further measures 
of defence, 311, 313-315; receives 
alarmist report, 315; proclamations 
to burgher-officers, 319-325; still 
uneasy regarding invasion, 325; 
purchases ammunition from Bar- 
bados, 326; 7755, complains of 
harsh treatment from Directors, 
329; refutes their complaints, 330; 
has no further fear of invasion, 
ib. ; determined to guard Colony's 
interests, 332; answers Directors' 
complaints concerning sugar, 335, 
336; asks leave to visit Europe, 
338; reports native outbreak, 340; 
reports lack of arms and ammuni- 
tion, 341 ; questions prudence of 
selling powder, 345 ; 1736, W.I. Co. 
approves his measures, 345, 346; 
reports Marchal's trial, 346, 347 ; 
his grief at Colony's condition, 
348; discouraged by opposition, 
ib. ; laments his meagre influence, 
ib. ; is determined not to give in, 
ib. ; discusses Knott's petition, 350- 
.^53 i opposes opening of Pomeroon, 
ib. ; 1738, sets out for a month in 
Demerara, 359; 7759, his pleasure 
at Spoors' retention, 368 ; urges 
importance of Spanish affair, 367, 
368 ; impatiently awaits order to 
fight, 98, 370; explains d'Anville's 
map, 370, 371: 1760, sends a copy 
(with additions), 374; repudiates 
intention of fighting without orders, 
ib. ; Court refuses to sit in his 
absence, 390; asks W.I. Co. to 
provide for old slaves, 377; de- 
plores dearth due to Anglo-French 
war, 380; 1761, complains of his 
secret enemies, 382 ; suggests 
measures for protecting Zeeland 
shipping, 385, 386; 1762, a New 
Year's wish, 395; suggests increase 
in salary of Commander, 396 ; com- 
plains of reduced rations, 396, 397 ; 
compiles Register of Colony, 398, 
399 ; his house become uninhabit- 
able, 406 : removes to one of two 
rooms, 406 ; deplores his lack of 
authority over W.I.Co.'s plantations, 



INDEX 



695 



Storm van 's Gravesande (L.) 
{cent. ) 
407 ; organizes expedition to Upper 
Essequibo, 412, 413: i7(>3i his 
intention to fit out another, 413: 
sends list of necessaries to Zeeland, 
ib. ; exculpates himself concerning 
sugar yields, 429; describes the 
W.I. Co. 's trading-posts, 430: the 
deplorable state of the Co.'s build- 
ings, 431 : the general condition of 
the Colony, 432, 433; opposed and 
thwarted since visit home, 436 ; his 
efforts to protect slaves, 445. 

776^;. Writes to G. Clarke Jr., 
448-452; criticizes Bellin's history, 
448 ; active in procuring slaves, 
450; criticizes Spoors' action as 
salesmaster, ib. ; grief and despond- 
ency, 454; weary of his office, 45; 
his views on free trade, 455 ; per- 
mitted to speak his mind, ib. ; 
Court refuses to sit in his absence, 
456 ; compiles treatise on planter- 
ship, 458 ; further literary activity, 
ib. ; orders Arinda Post to be 
moved, 459, 476 : and source of 
Essequibo to be explored, 459; his 
information used by Hartsinck, 
460; his Treatise on the Posts, 
460-473: his contentions regarding 
them, 72: his suggestions for their 
improvement, 470; apprehensive 
of French encroachments, 473, 
476; suggests greater population 
of Colony. 472; his views on 
colonial relations, 480. 

7765". His journey to Europe 
disapproved, 482 ; resolved to do 
his duty, ib. ; describes the ouar- 
ouchi tree, 484; renewed despond- 
ency, 46 ; his various troubles, 
491 ; blamed for not writing 
enough, 492 ; exculpates himself, 
ib. : also of the charge of injustice, 
493 ; laments his want of a flag, 
493, 494; his conduct approved 
by W.I. Co., 495; 7766, hopes for 
end of W.I. Co.'s dispute, 498; 
transmits information concerning 
pyramid, 500-502: asks AUamand's 
opinion thereon, 502 ; has need of 
good interpreter, 503; describes 
deplorable state of Barima, ib.\ 
sends lignum quassia to Leiden, 
506 ; his measures concerning sand- 
banks, 507; writes to Prince of 
Orange, 548-550: receives a reply, 
55 r; his indirect appeals to As- 
sembly of Ten, 143; must needs 



exercise caution, 50S; his views on 
negro converts, 512; sends details 
of rations distributed, 513, 514; 
complains of secret opposition, 515 ; 
shares administration (jf plantations, 
516: his annoyance thereat, ib.', 
his remarks on postholders, 99, 
100, 518-520, 532, 557; likens 
colony to Noah's Ark, 520, 572; 
refutes alleged neglect, 521; his 
surprise at Tampoco's escape, 522; 
receives permission to visit Europe, 
523; his health keeps him back, 
ib.\ fears to lose Clarke as a 
colonist, 525. 

7767. Worried by false reports, 
100; remits fees due to him, 529; 
directs river soundings in person, 
ib.\ his solicitude for W.I.Co. 's 
servants, 531; discusses origin of 
pyramids, 533; speculates upon 
ancient discoveries of America, ib. ; 
his finds of ancient remains, 534; 
sends statistics of exports, 538; his 
loyalty to Zeeland Chamber, 547 ; 
urges measures to prevent desertion, 
554 ; blames colonists for negligence, 
ib. ; deplores his helplessness against 
desertion, 556; changes postholder 
of Arinda, 557; his action as Fiscal, 
560; takes measures against Berbice 
rebels, 562. 

776^. Acts as Secretary, 563; 
his conduct misrepresented by 
Spoors, 565: his vindication, ib.; 
his official worries, 567 ; charges 
Spoors with neglect of duty, ib.\ 
his patience coming to an end, 568; 
his service rendered bitter, 571; 
inveighs against secret foes, ib. ; 
his fears concerning deserters, 573; 
laments loss of authority, ib.; de- 
precates W.I. Co.'s false economy, 
ib. ; apologizes for outspokenness, 
574; describes Colony's fisheries, 
579) 580; comments on Tampoco 
affair, 583 ; writes to Count Ben- 
tinck, 589-592: alludes to W.I.Co. 
dispute, 589 : deplores chaos caused 
thereby, ib. ; ingratitude shown him 
by colonists, 590. 

7769. His inability to conclude 
a cartel, 592 : or to restrict de- 
sertion, 593; his system of tax- 
collecting, 597 ; pleads for old 
slaves, 597, 598; uncertain of 
Tampoco's guilt, 598; reports raid 
on Moruca Post, 607 ; writes to 
Prince of Orange, 608; his letters 
lead States General to act, loi ; 



696 



INDEX 



Storm van 's Gravesande (L. ) 

{cont. ) 
his fears for the Colony, 612, 613; 
reports Jansse's journey, 613, 614: 
sends fuller details, 616-619; orders 
continuance of explorations, 619, 
620; his hopes of finding plalina, 
620; losing patience with colonists, 
615; his views on W.I.Co.'s re- 
forms, 622; complains of official 
salaries, 57, 58 ; his treatment of a 
lady critic, 623, 624; reluctant to 
use Indians against Spanish, 625: 
but willing to fight himsell, ib. ; 
desires but unfit to visit Europe, 
626. 

ijjo. His views on exchange, 
627 ; suspected of hostility to 
Zeeland Chamber, 628 : refutes the 
charge, 628—630 : his opinions 
shared by his family, 629; about to 
visit Demerara, 632 ; his infirmities 
prevent proper government, ib.; 
charged with neglect of books, 633 : 
refutes the charge, 633-635; laments 
W.I.Co.'s indifference, 635, 636; 
W.I.Co.'s ill-feeling against him, 
636 ; Storm no despot, ib. ; re- 
proached with leniency, /3.; remon- 
strates against slave-whipping, 
638. 

7777. Arranges expedition 
against deserters, 640, 641 ; Court 
refuses to sit in his absence, 643 ; 
journeys to Essequibo whilst ill, ih.\ 
desires but unfit to write fully, 644 ; 
complains of lack of unity, 645 : of 
ingratitude, 646 ; refutes unjust 
charges, ib. ; his condition and 
duties, 647 ; indifferent to the 
world, 49; hopes for his end, ib.\ 
fears for the Colony's future, 649 ; 
eulogizes van den Heuvel, 651 ; has 
compassion on defaulters, 55 ; 
worried by protested bills, 652 : 
describes their results, ib. ; com- 
pares himself to Cassandra, 653 ; 
opposes opening of Pomeroon, 654; 
reproached with bad management, 
655; ludicrous charges by W.I. Co., 
48 : refutes them, 48, 49, 655 ; 
shows results of false economy, 656 ; 
reports on W.I.Co.'s plantations, 
ib. ; his inclination for Zeeland 
feared, 658 ; washes his hands of 
plantations' ruin, ib. 

1^72. His last holograph, 50 ; 
praises condition of Colony, 659 ; 
his views on Jewish settlement, tb.\ 
declaims against unworked allot- 



ments, 660 ; his health improves, 
50; his desire to trade with Orinoco, 
660 ; describes financial chaos, 662 ; 
orders coast chart, ib. ; apologizes 
for outspokenness, 664 ; reports re- 
volt of slaves, 664-669 ; his mea- 
sures of defence, 51 ; extraordinary 
energy explained, 50 ; deplores 
disagreement amongst colonists, 
665, 668 ; reports danger to Prince 
of Orange, 666 ; his measures de- 
tailed, ib. ; quite worn out, 667 ; 
his last official despatches, 51, 669; 
his last letter, 589 ; his retirement, 
52, 59 ; his death, Aug. 14, 7775, 
S2. "Little or not at all known," 
6. 

On Particular Matters. 

Berbice revolt. Storm reports 
thereon, 776J, 416, seqq.\ his mea- 
sures of defence, 42, 418 ; hopes for 
assistance from home, 419; sends 
further details, 420 ; invites aid 
from Barbados, ib. : resolves to ask 
for 200 men, 423 ; acknowledges 
protection of English vessels, 428 ; 
dilates upon value of Barbados aid, 
433 ; his advice asked by Governor 
of Berbice, 434 ; his conduct ap- 
proved by W.I. Co., 436, 444 ; 
blamed for W.I.Co.'s neglect of 
danger, 439 ; his share in plan of 
attack, 442 ; explains how English 
aid obtained, 1764, 444 : admits it 
saved Demerara, ib.; disclaims 
a.sking for direct assistance, 445 ; 
thanked by Governor of Berbice, 
ib. ; his letters home demanded by 
States General, 450, 451 ; vindicates 
invocation of foreign aid, 7765, 479; 
his advice to Governor of Berbice, 

493- 

Boundary. Storm ignorant 
respecting Cuyuni frontier, 77.^6, 91, 
220, 22.S ; desires to be informed, 
IJ47, 229; quotes Abary and 
Barima as boundaries, 174S, 239 ; 
feels necessity of fixing, 267; anxious 
for definition, 1734^ 306 ; invokes 
Treaty of Miinster, ib. ; again 
suggests Barima, 7759, 369 : his 
policy concerning Barima, 82 ; 
W.I. Co. questions his ideas, 369; 
his views on the boundaries, 1760- 
1761, 97 ; supports his views re 
Barima, 388, 389 ; his decided 
opinion, 7766, 503 ; again quotes 
Barima, 7767, 528. Importance of 



INDEX 



697 



Storm van 's Gravesande (L.) 

{cent.) 
his despatches in Arbitrations, 89 ; 
his territorial consolidation of 
Colony, 65 ; his efforts embodied 
in definite claim, 102 ; area under 
control upon his retirement, 80. 

Ctiyutii. Storm's projects in, 
71 ; reports Spanish raid on the 
post, iJjS, 356 ; points to import- 
ance of, 357 ; adduces d'Anville's 
authority, ib. ; confirms news of 
raid, 359 ; reluctant to retaliate 
without authority, 358 ; invokes 
aid of States General, 361 ; his 
action praised by W.I. Co., 7759, 
362; his renewed remonstrance, 97; 
sends desired information, 369, 370 ; 
writes again, 1760, 373 ; explains 
Dutch right to, ib. ; issues instruc- 
tions to C. settlers, lydi, 98 ; sug- 
gests le-establishment of the post, 
lydj, 408; his fears of trouble in, 
1764, 475 ; plans re-estaV;lishment 
of post, 477, 478 ; his belief in 
mining in C., 535 ; reports deserters 
to C missions, J^dg, 600. 

Demerara. Storm sounds the 
river, 218; describes the settle- 
ment, 1746, ib. ; intends remo\-ing 
the post, 217; suggests measures 
for improving, 1748, 237: his care 
of the colony, 66: his pleasure in 
it, 39; dilates on its prospects, 67; 
prophecies Us future, 1752, 68; 
proposes residing there, 69; sends 
glowing report. 1753, 293 ; his 
desire to further D. , 17 jS, 333; 
predicts its prosperity, 334; spends 
a month in inspecting, 337 ; reports 
Essequibo's jealousy of, 336 ; reports 
colony's progress, 1738, 356 : 1761, 
385; his presence there necessary, 
776/, 390 ; asks for authority to 
reside in, 391 ; completes a tour of 
colony, 7765', 437 ; his amazement 
at its progress, 438: another visit, 
7765, 485: another, 7767, 544; 
vindicates his presence there, 564- 
566 ; his pleasure in its progress, 
1-768, 579; his visits there objected 
to, 591 ; his pleasure in going 
there, 592; complains of having to 
leave, 623. 

Discharge. Storm's applica- 
tions for, 77.^6, 36, 223 (hopes for 
re-employment in military service, 
224): 1763, 46, 425 (his motives, 
434-437): 7766, 515, 524, 525, 
530 (asks for no pension, 524): 



7767, 539, 540, 542 (true reasons 
for retiring, 567; intention to ab- 
stain from all business, 578) : 1768, 
589 (his reasons, ib.; describes 
steps to obtain release, 591; his 
applications to Prince of Orange, 
ib.\ implores Bentinck's interces- 
sion, ib.): i76g, 597, 602 ; despond- 
ent at deferred discharge, 626; 
7770, reasons given him, 628 ; 
remonstrates with W.I. Co., ib.; 
grieved to stay in office, 1771, 
650. 

Duties. Storm's references to 
his manifold duties: 1738-1742, 
633: nS^, 280: 775J, 294: 7765-, 
495: 7766, 499: 7767, 47, 536, 
537: 776^, 563, 568, 591: 7769, 
596, 600, 602, 622: 7770, 634, 

637: 177^, 648- 

English. Storm praises E. 
planters, 77.^, 211: his views on 
E. immigration, 40, 41 ; cites 
example of E., 7750, 256, 257; 
suggests adjustment of dues on E. 
ships, 275: and appointment of 
gauger, ib. ; introduces Clarke to 
W.I. Co., 775^, 41, 286; invites 
him to write to Zeeland, 286; takes 
action against E. colonist, 77_5'j>, 
290, 291 : his uneasiness in the 
matter, 291 ; sanctions E. divine 
service in Demerara, 292 ; his 
policy regarding the E. , 7767, 
384 ; embarrassed by a letter from 
E. admiral, 393 ; commends E. 
method of sugar boiling, 1763, 
428; admits E. aid saved the 
colony, 444 ; considers E. harmful 
to colony, 1768, 582 ; disinclination 
for E. burgher-officers, 7770, 631 : 
his doubts as to their exclusion, ib.; 
cites anglicized Dutch families, ib. ; 
777=", eulogizes bravery of two 
Englishmen, 667, 668. 

Indian policy, 65, 83-89: com- 
pared with modern British, 86 : 
apparent inconsistency in, 85 ; 
instances of his relations with 
Indians, 84. Moves I. to attack 
deserters, 77^, 207 ; assists Caribs 
against Orinoco I., 1746, 219; 
restrains Caribs from attacking 
Spanish, 91, 225, 392; visited by 
complaining I., 7750, 251: 
promises them satisfaction, ib. ; 
suggests prohibiting trade with I., 
ib., 269; persuades Akawois to 
pursue deserters, 1732, 287 ; takes 
measures against Wapisanas, 1733, 



698 



INDEX 



Storm van 's Gravesande (L.) 
(coni.) 
302 ; entertains Panacay chiefs, 
lySSi 330; asked to pit Caribs 
against Akawois, 341 : reluctance 
to do so, /d. ; sends for Arawaks 
as mediators, 343 ; is greatly trusted 
by I., lysd, 349; his device to 
protect I., 1762, 398; reports fight 
between Manaos and Caribs, /ydj, 
414; invites Manao chiefs to Esse- 
quibo, 415; sends a vi^hite to 
lead I. against rebels, 424 ; his 
house full of Caribs, 443 : /jd^, 
447 ; fosters enmity between Caribs 
and negroes, t/>.; his consideration 
for I., 458; sends envoys to 
Taroumas, 459; solicitous to foster 
I. relations, lydj, 478; insists upon 
neutrality in I. war, 486; repri- 
mands Spanish I., 496; admonishes 
Caiib chief, 497 ; reports impending 
Indian conflict, 1766, 505 ; en- 
deavours to reconcile Caribs and 
Akawois, 506 ; arranges for I. to 
attack rebels, ijbS, 564 ; receives 
reassurances from Carib chief, 574; 
anxious to remain neutral amongst 
I., 575 ; reports spread of Indian 
war, 584, 585 ; permits Caribs to 
fight Spanish, ■;86 ; examines Carib 
chief from Barima, ijbg, 612 ; asks 
for 50 Caribs to watch plantations, 
/770, 638 ; his efforts to protect 
free I., 1772^ 661 ; calls up Caribs, 
664 ; accepts Akawois' aid against 
rebels, 665. 

Alilitia. Storm suggests im- 
provement, 1738, 194, 195; his 
troubles with, 34, 163; thanks for 
reinforcements, 174^, 215; suggests 
reforms, 7750, 275; deplores small- 
ness of garrison, i7S4> 305 \ reports 
on men available, 312; complains 
of the recruits sent, 1757 , 354! 
forced to give up his sentry, 17S9, 
369 ; engages mulattoes, 1762, 
404; deplores weakness in Berbice 
revolt, 1763^ 420 : and non-arrival 
of reinforcements, 440; laments 
lack of Protestant soldiers, 7766, 
498, 500, 520; asks for reinforce- 
ments, 521: 7767, 545; reports 
arrival of useless recruits, 569; his 
hands completely tied, 1768, 581 ; 
urges need of Protestant soldiers, 
ib.\ proposes to send back all 
Frenchmen, 587 ; emphasizes dan- 
ger of desertion, 588; laments 
weakness of garrison, 7769, 613; 



suggests a garrison of 200 men, 
777^-, 668, 669. 

Slaves. Urges necessity of 
sending s. 77^^, 212, 213: 775^, 
282: 773'j', 328; predicts ruin of 
fort, etc. ib. ; laments dilapidations 
through lack of s., 1762, 402, 403 : 
1763, 408-412; kept at home 
through lack of rowers, 410; dwells 
upon insufficiency of s., 431 ; reports 
a trial for slave-smuggling, 7767, 
539; discusses dearth of s., 7769, 
594, 621, 622 ; unable to stop slave- 
smuggling, 7770, 632: asks for 
proof of, 636; frustrates attempt to 
land foreign s., 639; deplores 
continued smuggling, 7777, 640, 
644. 

Spa7iish. Storm cautious in 
action against S., 1746, 90; urges 
danger of S. fort on Cuyuni, 7777, 
228; negotiates with Commandant 
of Orinoco, 77^<?, 233; obtains 
favourable hearing from Governor 
of Cumana, ib. ; obtains redress 
from S. Governor, 77^9, 244; 
negotiates for a cartel, ib. ; receives 
satisfactory reply from S. Governor, 
248; obtains map of S. discoveries, 
249: submits map copied from S., 
7750, 267; has dealings with Com- 
mandant of Orinoco, 775^, 287 ; 
reports friendly relations with 
Governor of Cumana, 775^, 304; 
fears S. attack, 94; reports sus- 
picious movements of S., 305 ; his 
measures of defence, 93 ; his actions 
approved by W.I. Co., 7755, 306; 
reports two S. missions in Cuyuni, 
307 ; recalls former S. movement, 
ib. ; writes to Commandant of 
Orinoco, 309, 318, 319; transmits 
reply from Valdes, 317; is re- 
assured as to S. mission, 327; his 
uneasiness over as to S., 330; in- 
forms S. of Ensenada's fall, 331; 
answers S. demand through Moruca 
postholder, 345 ; his apprehensions 
of S. encroachments, 1736, 349 ; 
accepts proposal for capturing S. 
mission, 350; vindicates himself as 
to S. alarms, 1737, 353 ; his action 
after S. raid on Cuyuni, 1738., 95, 
96; criticizes S. Viceroy, 357; his 
protest on the raid, 96; demands 
satisfaction, 360, 363-365 : receives 
unsatisfactory reply, 7759, 360, 361, 
365, 366 ; his letter to Valdes re- 
turned, 367; offers to attack the S. , 
98; describes fresh S. outrages, 



INDEX 



699 



Storm van 's Gravesande (L. ) 
{cont. ) 
ij6o, 376; coerced into prohibiting 
S. trade, 383; urges importance of 
claim against S., ijbi, 389 ; refers 
again to S. disturbances in Cuyuni, 
1762, 397; blamed for S. piracies, 
310: demands satisfaction from 
Governor of Trinidad, 99; writes 
to S. Governor concerning fugitive 
slaves, 1764, 446; apprehensive of 
S. encroachments, ijbj, 488, 489 ; 
reports S. trespassing in Massaruni, 
494; orders arrest of S. officer, ib.; 
laments failure of negotiations with 
S., 511; invites co-operation of S. 
Governor in Barima, 7767, 528; 
suggests measures against S., 541, 
542 ; orders S. deserters out of 
Essequibo, 545; his diffidence of S., 
553; describes S. governors, ib., 
582; complains of S. attack on 
salters, 176S, 585: suggests re- 
taliation, 586 ; prepares lor threat- 
ened S. raid, 7769, 595; his 
indignation at their conduct, 601 ; 
orders inspection of S. missions in 
Cuyuni, 602; sends out warning of 
S. raid, 604; his alarm at S. en- 
croachments, 605, 606, 608; reports 
fresh S. outrages, 612; suggests 
reprisals, 615. 

Supplies. Storm urges lack of, 
1744, 209, 210: 17 4S, 214: 1747, 
231 : 77^9, 245, 246 : J7S3, 300, 
301, 302: 77j6, 347, 348: 7759, 
361 : 7760, 380: 7765, 490, 491 : 
7766, 508, 517, 518: 7769, 611, 
625 : 7777, 639, 642, 649, 652, 
654. 655, 657, 658. 

Work. S. lays foundation of 
B. Guiana, 66 ; the colony's pro- 
gress under him, 7 ; his part in its 
consolidation, 22 ; his conception of 
colonization, 66 ; his despatches, 5, 
475? 627 ; fulness of his arguments, 
ib. ; his linguistic attainments, 60 ; 
his love of method, 54, 596, 597 ; 
his diplomacy versus Spanish ag- 
gression, 89-102; his grasp of affairs, 
70; his difficulties, 160-166: — lack 
of supplies, 160-162 : shortage of 
slaves, 162: anundermanned militia, 

163 : an uncongenial colleague, 163, 

164 : overwork, 164 ; ill-health, 165, 
166. His work for posterity, 102 : 
its endurance, 66 : its survival, 107. 



Personal. 

Character, 52-55 ; abstemious- 
ness, 53, 569 ; conduct in army, 
629 ; contentment, 55 ; energy, 
45; forbearance, 651 ; goed rond 
goed zeeuwsch, 429, 629 ; honour, 
58, 59, 216, 560,639; industry, 596 ; 
mode of life, 53, 222, 223, 481 ; 
outspokenness, 629, 644 ; patience, 
572 ; peace, love of, 35 ; religious 
feeling, 58; resignation, 45; self- 
control, 310, 560 ; sensitiveness, 46, 
58. 530. 543 ; soldierly bent, 33, 
51 ; straightforwardness, 645 ; un- 
mercenary nature, 54, 55, 435, 622. 

. Family. Storm's ancestry, 28, 
29, 629, 644 ; his family, 32 ; his 
domestic afflictions, 39, 46 ; 77^7, 
narrow escape of his two sons, 230: 
his gratitude to negro rescuers, ib.; 
1732, loses his second son, Warnard 
Jacob, 292 ; 1760, loses his wife, 
372 ; 7767, loses his eldest son, 
Jonathan Samuel, 386, 387 ; com- 
mends his son-in-law, van Ber- 
cheyck, to W.I.Co., 387; 776^, loses 
his son-in-law, 452 ; is aided by his 
daughter, van Berciieyck's widow, 
459 ; loses his third son, Gerard 
Johan, 45 ; 7766, marriage of his 
two (laughters, 517 : loses their 
clerical assistance, ib. ; calls his son, 
Jeremias, home, 523 : commends 
him to Prince of Orange, 550; 
7777, loses his eldest daughter, 49 ; 
777.?, loses his son-in-law, Bakker, 
49' 50. 

Ill- health. 1760, his poor 
health, 45 ; reports himself ill, 375 ; 
776.?, ill and grieved, 401 ; 7765, 
his faculties failing, 47 ; severe 
illness, 46, 483 ; his memory bad, 
490 ; 7766, inability to go on, 47 ; 
7767, reports himself ill, 547 ; 7769, 
getting weaker daily, 615 ; more 
despondent, 623 ; 7770, despatches 
no longer by his hand, 640 ; 7777, 
his pen failing him, ib.; his hearing 
very ha.(\,ib.; memory and strength 
going, lb. 

Means. 1746, No income be- 
yond emoluments, 56, 222 ; losing 
money, 222 ; 77^15*, his salary in- 
creased, 232 ; 77^9, remonstrates 
against distraint upon salary, 248 ; 
exposes his means, ib.\ 176J, buys 
a house, 432 ; his salary increased 
unasked, 435 ; explains shortage in 



700 



INDEX 



Storm van 's Gravesande (L. ) 
[cont.) 
income, 435, 436 ; J76J, financial 
difficulties, 57, 481 ; his struggles to 
keep his plantation, 482 ; his table- 
money increased, 495 ; ijOg, his 
financial position, 023 ; 1771, his 
possessions, s8 ; monies due to him, 
651. 

Quotations by Storm. 
Alexander, Pope, 624. 
Cicero, Paradoxa, 637. 
Horace, Carmiiia, ^^, 543, 578 ; 
Epistolae, 216, 382, 520, 627, 
635, 650 ; Satirae, 518, 651. 
Lothair I, 573, 664. 
Moliere, Alisanthrope, 544. 
Ovid, Met., 3S4 ; Rem. Amor. 487, 

661. 
Persius, 569. 
Publilius Syrus, 607. 
Racine, Athalie, 630. 
Sallust, y ugiirtha., 267, 335, 529. 
Shakespeare, Othello, 572. 
Terence, And. 629, 649 ; Hcauton. 

540- 
Valerius Maximus, 627. 
Vespasian, 583. 
Virgil, 355, 659 ; ^n., 539, 543, 

584, 650, ib.; Georg., 650. 
Felix quern faciunt, 286. 
Tela priTvisa tninus nocent, 571. 
Turba per extremas, 569, 658. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Lumea 
Constantia) See Beicheyck after- 
wards Storm van 's Gravesande. 

Storm van 's Gravesande after- 
zvards Bercheyck afterioards 
Heuvel (Maria Cathaiina) Birth 
and career, ^}^ ; appeals to W.I. Co. 
on husband's death, 452-453, 
receives 600 guilders, 454 ; her 
death, 49. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Pieter) 
Born ibSj, 29. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (War- 
nard Jacob) Birth (i72g) and 
career, 32 ; appointed an Assistant, 
1748, 232; accompanies his father 
to Europe, 17^0, 280; offered an 
officer's commission, ib ; dispute 
concerning his duties, 1732, ib. ; 
discharged from W.I.Co.'s service, 
ib. ; in charge of Baron van Groves- 
tins' plantation, 281; his death, 
1752, 292. 

Storm van 's Gravesande (Willem 
Jacob) Drops surname of Storm, 
30. See 's Gravesande (W. J.). 

Sugar. Its cultivation in Pomeroon, 



1637, '6; extension of plantations 

in Essequibo, 1700-1723, 26; its 

cultivation discussed, 258, 259; 

crops computed and explained, 

1753^ 297, 298. 
Suppiname R. Rights there 

abused, 1730, 352. 
Supplies. Insufficiency of, 39, 160- 

162. 
Surinam. Taken from British by 

Dutch, 1667, 18; anti-Semitism 

there, 212; Jews desire to settle in 

Essequibo, 1744, 211: 1753, 301; 

S. traders leave Barima, 17S4, 325. 
Sutton (John) Demerara planter, 

776^, 400. 
Swedish projects respecting Barima, 

1753^ 92, 93> 293; repetition of 

report, 1734, 307. 
Swettenham {Sir James Alexander) 

His work in the boundary dispute, 

138; discusses Scott's Account of 

Gtiiana, 147. 



Tabarez (Diego) See Cumana, 
Governor of. 

Tacamahaka. A gum found in the 
colony, 263. 

Tacutu R. Horstman proceeds 
along, 171, 174; Schombuigk 
discovers its source, 116; Brazilian 
encroachments on, i8g7, 136; 
postholder and constables stationed 
on, ib. ; the officials recalled, ib. ; 
complaints become aggravated, ib. 

Tampoco. A creole belonging to 
the W.I. Co., 494; his acquaintance 
with the Massaruni, 73 ; spies upon 
Spanish in Upper Essequibo, 1763, 
488, 489; is sent on an expedition, 
494; apprehends Spanish Indians, 
496; report of his capture, 1766, 
518: by Spanish in Cuyuni, 522; 
escapes through Orinoco, ib. ; 
reports upon Spanish in Cuyuni, 
537. Reports Spanish raid on 
Cuyuni Post, 1767, 541 ; confirms 
raid on Arinda Post, 555. Escorts 
Carib chief from Massaruni, 176S, 
563 ; returns from pursuing rebels, 
575 ; account of his expedition, 
576; report of his duplicity, 583; 
hangs himself, 585 ; doubts con- 
cerning his guilt, 7769, 598. 

Tapacooma. Police-station estab- 
lished at, 1887, 130. 

Taroumas. Mentioned by Storm, 
1764, 459 ; first visited by whites, 
i8j7, ib. 



INDEX 



701 



Tea. Shrub resembling, found in 
colony, 264. 

ter Hooge. Sfe Iluis ter Hooge. 

Thibaut (J. W.) Burgomaster of Mid- 
delburg. Referred to by Storm, 62S. 

Tholson (Andries) His plantation in 
Demerara, 290. 

Thomas (John) A Demerara planter, 
776.?, 400. 

Three Towns, The. 154-159. 

Timber. Colony's compared with N. 
American, 258; variety of, 263,264. 

Timehri. Prints extracts from 
" Bentinck Papers" re Berbice 
revolt, 448. 

Tirado, Seiior. Venezuelan Com- 
missioner for delimitation, 138. 

Tobacco. Storm advises cultivation, 
7750, 258. 

Toenomoeto, Dutch post at, 72. 

Tollenaer (Pieler) A mulatto ; cap- 
tures runaway Creoles, 501 ; 
examines ihe pyramid, 77^0, ib. ; 
dies soon after return, ib. 

Tonoma Falls. Dutch post at, 72. 

Toppin (William) Demerara planter, 
776^, 400. 

Torres de Bandeyra ( ) The 

second voice in Brazil, 414; his 
visit to Storm, 614 ; gives informa- 
tion concerning Manaos, 414, 464 ; 
visits Europe with Clarke's aid, 614. 

Traquari Fall. See Iraquari. 

Trinidad. Its government, 99. 

Trombetas R. Schomburgk dis- 
covers its sources, 117. 

Trotz (George Hendrik) Peremp- 
torily ordered to produce accounts, 
7770, 632, 633; succeeds Storm as 
Director-General, 777.?, 103, 633 ; 
his aspersions upon Storm, 103 ; 
continues Storm's policy, ib.\ 
distributes rewarils to Indians, ib. 

Troolie. See Trouille. 

Trouille. Used for church thatch, 
403 ; described by im Thurn, ib. 

Trouille Island, 199. 

Uaicas. See Waikas. 
Uaupes. See Wapisanas. 
United States of America. Inter- 
venes in the boundary dispute, 

iSgs, 134- 
Uruan R. Chief tributary of the 
Cuyuni, 132 ; government station 
established on, 7<S'97, ib. : facing 
that of Venezuela, ib. ; Venezuelans 
seize British station, i8g^, '33! 
British police re-established by 
McTurk, ib. 



Utrecht, Treaty of. The Treaty 
explained, 24; boundaries it con- 
firmed to the Dutch, 1714, ib. 

Valdes (Juan) Spanish Commandant; 
returns Storm's letter re Cuyuni, 
17391 367 ; forbidden to correspond, 
7767, 393 ; harbours Dutch run- 
aways, 7766, 511. 

Varken Island. Clearing made for 
sugar plantation, 1748, 234. 

Veere. Description of, 157; its 
town-hall, ib. ; its Scotch staple, 
158, 159; with Middelburg and 
Flushing takes over Essequibo, 
7657, 144 • 3.nd founds a new 
settlement, 15. Discovery there 
of Pomeroon documents, 18. 

Venezuela. Becomes a separate 
state, 7(^5.?, 115; grants concessions 
of lands claimed by Britain, 1881- 
1884, 127; suspends diplomatic 
relations with Britain, iSSy, 128; 
its boundary commission, 129; 
arbitration with, 5. 

Veth, a Creole. Collects Caribs 
against rebels, 1764, 447. 

Victor Emmanuel III., King of 
Italy. Arbitrates between Great 
Britain and Brazil, 790^, 137. 

Visvliet (M. J. van) Writer on the 
Scotch staple at Veere, 159. 

Volcano. An active one reported 
on the Siparuni, 75, 249. 

Voyage des Feres de Families. Its 
account of Essequibo, 1 1. 

Vries (David Pietersz. de) Early 
authority on Guiana, 4; anchors in 
Demerara, 16^4, 148; visited by 
Essequibo Commander, ib. ; his 
Korte Historiael...vaii verscheijden 
Voyagiens, 4 : its translation by 
H. C. Murphy, 148: its precis by 
Netscher, ib. 

Vries (Moses Isaakse de) To accom- 
pany Storm prospecting, i7jg, 197; 
leads Indians against deserters, 
77^, 207 ; assists as interpreter, 
227; his plantation in Essequibo, 
471, 472; his success, 659; his 
death, 227. 



Wacquepo. P^ertiiity of lands, 472. 

For matters concerning the Post 

see under Moruca. 
Waikas. Commit depredations in 

Barima and Pomeroon, 7769, 606, 

607; their identification, 606. 
Waini R. Canbs there supported 



702 



INDEX 



by Storm against Orinoco Indians, 
1746, 219: they repel the latter, 
227; fertility of the lands, 472; 
measured for plantations, ij^s, 81, 
289; its shallow entrance, 507; 
traders and Caribs retire there from 
Barima, i754i 325; permission 
sought to cut timber, 7756, 350 ; 
Storm's policy, 8i ; Indian cap- 
tains imder British jurisdiction, 
III. Waterways connecting with 
the Orinoco, 23. 

Wapisanas. An account of them, 
302, 303. 

Warouws. An account of them, 343. 

Wassenaer ( van) Baillie of The 
Hague. His interview with Storm, 

nsi, 572. 

Watje. Murdered in Upper Es- 
sequibo, 1753, 302. 

Waykiers. See Uaicas. 

Wells (Robert) An agent of the 
Manoa Co., 128; commits barbar- 
ities on British soil, 1884, ib. 

Welsh (Samuel) Demerara planter, 
1762, 400. 

Wenamu R. Explored by Schom- 
burgk, [ 17. 

West ( ) Colonel. Migrates from 
Barbados to Essequibo, 1744, 213. 

West India Company. Its aims, 
154; its constitution, 142, 143; its 
first charter, 1621, 142 ; its second 
charter, 1647, ib. ; its flag, 62 ; 
grants charter to Jews, 7659, "211; 
re-constituted, 167^, 143 ; origin of 
free tradedispute, 143, 144 ; conflicts 
with interlopers, 12 ; traders' posts 
mark territorial claims, 23; orders 
expedition to Lake Parima, 1714, 
24, 186, 187; policy of drift, 65; 
neglects the Colony, 35, 36, 43 ; 
failure of supplies, 46 ; replies as to 
mining operations, i73g, 196 ; pro- 
posed closing of its shop, 199; its 
plantations, 201 ; warehouse quite 
empty, 1743, 204 ; slaves in revolt, 
J744, 210; its "great reform," 37, 
206, 410, 412 ; plantations in good 
condition, 174.S, 36 ; its indigo and 
coffee plantations, 220 ; location of 
" Duinenburg," ib.; writes concern- 
ing hostile Indians, 1746, 220, 221 ; 
working of its plantations, 221 : 
yields compared with private con- 
cerns, 222 ; institutes enquiries re 
boundaries, 1747, 229 ; suggests 
dislodging Spanish, ib.; its ignor- 
ance of boundaries, 91 ; orders 
chart of Essequibo, 229 ; presents 



Storm with negroes, 232 ; indigo 
plantation unsaleable, 1748, 233 ; 
sanction asked to raze Kijkoveral, 
235 ; comments on Courthial's peti- 
tion, i74g, 243 ; accuses officials of 
dishonesty, 247 ; receives Storm's 
Report, /750, 252 ; bread plantation 
unsatisfactory, 253 : Storm advises 
its abandonment, 254 ; brick-works 
in good order, ib. ; retrenchment in 
carpenter's wages, 274 ; suggested 
re-opening of its shop, 276; failure 
of its crops, I7S3, 294 ; signs too 
many charter-parties, 296 ; its 
slaves decreasing, 297 ; " Pelgrim " 
works collapse, ib.\ its sugar yields 
computed, ib. ; planters petition it 
for slaves, 299 ; addressed by 
Gedney Clarke, 295-299 ; failure of 
supplies, 301, 302 ; loyalty of its 
negroes, 313; its supineness against 
Spanish, 97 ; discredits rumours of 
invasion, i7jS, 306 ; doubts con- 
cerning the boundary, ib. ; enjoins 
circumspection, ib. ; sends men 
and arms, 307 ; plantations slaves 
transferred, 328 ; its bread-gardens 
laid waste, 330 ; its complaints 
refuted by Storm, ib. ; orders sale of 
powder, 345, 346; approves Storm's 
measures, 17^6, 345 ; the Colony a 
burden, 348 ; its reply concerning 
raid, 7759, 362 ; plantation allotted 
out, 368 ; questions Storm's idea of 
boundary, 369 ; inactive against 
renewed aggressions, 1760, 98 ; re- 
plies concerning fresh raid, 176 1, 
376; asked to provide forold slaves, 
377 ; sends arms for natives, 1762, 
404 ; complains of plantation yields, 
406; approves of explorations, 1763, 
413 ; pitiable state of its buildings, 
431 ; approves Storm's conduct, 
436 ; its neglect to aid Demerara, 
438 ; its optimism, 440 ; treatise 
on its trading-posts, 1764, 460- 
473 ; its views on foreign aid, 479 ; 
its methods criticized, 176^., ib. ; its 
warehouse empty for months, 490 ; 
desires examination of pyramids, 
1766, 502 ; Prince of Orange at its 
head, 549; discusses Barima juris- 
diction, 505 ; its action as to deser- 
ters, 7767, 511 ; has little hope of 
redress, ib. ; asks for details of 
rations, 513,514; grants Storm leave 
to visit Europe, 523 ; answers un- 
satisfactorily ;-^ reinforcements, 545 ; 
Storm deprecates its false economy, 
1768, ^^^ ; the free navigation dis- 



INDEX 



703 



pute, 143-145, 589; leaves slave 
trade to private enterprise, 594; 
its indifference to Spanish raids, 
7769, 605 ; promises recruits and 
arms, 606 ; its great reform futile, 
622 ; its salting prevented by Span- 
ish, 624 ; suggests dividing up des- 
patches, 627 ; reasons for not dis- 
charging Storm, 628 ; charges 
Storm with neglect, /770, 632, 633 ; 
has no fear of Spanish, 635 ; com- 
plains of slave-smuggling, 636; ill- 
feeling against Storm, 637 ; its 
warehouses empty, 777/, 639, 642 ; 
settlement of its free trade dispute, 
644; grants lands in Mahaica, 647; 
sends no supplies for 19 months, 
649, 652 ; total lack of supplies, 
654 ; brings ludicrous charges 
against Storm, 48, 6^^ ; its illo- 
gicality, 48 ; number of its slaves, 

655 ; condition of its plantations, 

656 ; salaries of its managers, i^. ; its 
service unpopular, 657 ; disallows 
Commander's increase, li. ; planta- 
tions deteriorating, 658 ; is dis- 
pleased at Storm's remarks, 663 ; 
its reward to Caribs, /77J', 669 ; its 
generosity criticized by Netscher, 
z6. ; Rodway on its meanness, 43 ; 
end of its rule, f/g/, 106, 143; its 
reports, 5. 

Whetham (Boddam) His expedition, 
1S7S, 126. 

Whitely (Henry) His expedition, 
fSSj, 126; attempts ascent of 
Roraima, id. 

Widdup, Dr. Appointed a com- 
missioner for delimitation, 138. 

Wild Coast. Signification of the 
term, 15. 

Willemse (Jan) A pilot in W.I. Co. 's 
service, 7755, 344. 

William IV. Prince of Orange, 
Hereditary Stadholder of the United 
Provinces. Governor-General of 
the W.I. Co., 548, 549; receives 
Storm, 775/, 37, 472: shows him 
d'Anville's map, 397 ; his words to 
Storm, 645; his death, 278. 

William V. Prince of Orange, 
Hereditary Stadholder of the 
United Provinces. Governor-Gen- 
eral of the W.I. Co., 548, 549; 



Storm applies to him for discharge, 
524, 548-550; his reply to Storm, 
551 ; his action concerning Spanish 
raids, 7769, 608; inclined to aid 
Storm, 7770, 630; arbitrates on 
free trade dispute, 144. 

Williams (Clinton) Heroic defence 
against rebels, 777^, 664 ; his 
bravery eulogized, 668. 

Williams (William) Heroic defence 
against rebels, ^77^i 664; his 
bravery eulogized, 668. 

W^iltshire (Richard) A Demerara 
planter, 444. His action in Ber- 
bice revolt, 42 1 ; carries news of 
rebellion to Barbados, fy6j, 444. 

Wind (Jan de) Governor of St. 
Eiisiatius. Sends aid to Berbice, 
776J, 424, 426; appealed to by 
Storm, 439. 

Wodehouse (Philip E.) Issues 
captain's commission to Indian 
chief, 7<?5'5, 119. 

Woestijne (Adriaen van de) As- 
sistant in Essequibo, 765*7, '49 > 
clerk there, 1644, 150. 



Yair (James) Writer on the Scotch 

staple at Veere, 159. 
Yakontipu Mt. Source of Ireng, 

140. 
Youd (Thomas) Missionary, welcomed 

to Pirara by vSchomburgk, 1838., 

113; turned out by Brazilians, 114; 

re-instated at Pirara, 1841, ib. 
Yuruari R. Its mining district, 

132. 



Zealand. Measures for protecting 
its shipping, 7767, 386. 

Zeeland, States of. Essequibo 
handed over to, 7669, 144; resolve 
to admit only Z. ships, 7750, ib. 

Zeeland Chamber. Continues up- 
keep of Essequibo, i6j3, 143 ; 
hands it over to States of Zeeland, 

7669, 144; Essequibo restored to, 

7670, ib.; Storm's loyalty to, 547; 
Storm suspected of hostility to, 
7769, 628 ; opposes re-organization 
of the colony, 777J, 105. 

Zelandia Illustrata, 156. 



Cambridge: printed by john clay, m.a. at the university press 



XLbc Ibahlu^t Society. 



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FIRST SERIES. 
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I— The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins, Knt., 

In his Voyage nito the South Sea in 1593. Reprinted from the edition 
of 1622, and edited by Admiral Charles Ramsay Drinkwater 
Bethune, C.B. pp. xvi. 246. Index. 

(First Edition out of print. See No. 57. j Issued for 1847. 

2— Select Letters of Christopher Columbus, 

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(First Edition out of print. See No. 43. Two copies only were printed on 
velkuTi, one of which is in the British Museum, C. 29. k. 14.) 

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3— The Discovery of the Large, Rich, & Beautiful Empire of Guiana, 

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6— The Historie of Travaile into Virginia Britannia, 

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7— Divers Voyages touching the Discovery of America 

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8— Memorials of the Empire of Japon. 

In the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. (The Kingdome of Japonia. 
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Commentary by T]iomas Rundall. pp. xxxviii. 186. i Map. 5 Illus. 

(Out of print.) Issued for 1850. 

9— The Discovery and Conquest of Terra Florida, 

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by a Gentleman of Elvas, employed in all the action, and translated out of 
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Expedition by Luis Hernandez de Biedma, Factor to the same, by 
William Brenchley Rye, Keeper of Printed Books, British Museum. 
pp. Ixvii. 200. V. I Map. Index. ( Out of print.) Issued for 1 85 1. 

10— Notes upon Russia, 

Being a Translation from the Earliest Account of that Countr)', entitled Remm 
Muscoviticarum Commentarii, by the Baron Sigismund von Herberstein, 
Ambassador from the Court of Germany to the Grand Prince Vasiley Ivanovich, 
in the years 1517 and 1526. Translated and Edited with Notes & an 
Introduction, by Richard Henry Major, F.S.A., Keeper of Maps, British 
Museum, Sec. R.G.S. Vol. i. pp. clxii. 116. 2 Illus. 

(Vol. 2 = No. 12.) (Out of print.) Issued for \2i^i. 

11— The Geography of Hudson's Bay, 

Being the Remarks of Captain W. Coats, in many Voyages to that locality, 
between the years 1727 and 1751. With an Appendix containing Extracts 
from the Log of Captain Middleton on his Voyage for the Discovery of the 
North-west Passage, in H.M. S. "Furnace," in 174 1-3. Edited by John 
Barrow, F.R. S., F.S.A. pp. x. 147. Index. Issicedfor iSs,2. 

12— Notes upon Russia. 

(Vol. I.=No. 10.) Vol. 2. pp. iv. 266. 2 Maps, i Illus. Index. 

{Out of print.) Issued for 1852. 

13— A True Description of Three Voyages by the North-East, 

Towards Cathay and China, undertaken by the Dutch in the years 1594, 1595 
and 1596, with their Discovery of Spitzbergen, their residence often months in 
Novaya Zemlya, and their safe return in two open boats. By Gerrit de 
Veer. Published at Amsterdam in 1598, & in 1609 translated into English 
by William Philip. Edited by Charles Tilstone Beke, Ph.D., 
F.S.A. pp. cxlii. 291. 4 Maps. 12 Illus. Index. 

(Out of print. SeealsoNo.z,\.) Issued for I^^t,. 

14-15— The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and 
the Situation Thereof. 
Compiled by the Padre Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza, & now reprinted from 
the Early Translation of R. Parke. Edited by Sir Gkorge Thomas 
Staunton, Bart., M.P. , F.R.S. With an Introduction by Richard 
Henry Major, F.S.A., Keeper of Maps, British Museum, Sec. R.G.S. , 
2 vols. Index. {Vol. \iSf out of print.) Issued for 1854. 

16— The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake. 
Being his next Voyage to that to Nombre de Dios. [By Sir Francis 
Drake, the Younger.] Collated with an unpublished ]\Ianuscript of Francis 
Fletcher, Chaplain to the Expedition. With Appendices illustrative of 
the same Voyage, and Introduction, by William Sandys Wright 
Vaux, F.R.S., Keeper of Coins, British Museum, pp. xl. 295. i Map. 
Index. (Out of print.) Issued Jor 1855. 



VI 

17— The History of the Two Tartar Conquerors of China, 

Including the two Journeys into Tartary of Father Ferdinand Verbiest, in the 
suite of the Emperor Kang-Hi. From the French of Pere Pierre Joseph 
d'Orleans, of the Company of Jesus, 1688. To which is added Father 
Pereira's Journey into Tartary in the suite of the same Emperor. From the 
Dutch of NicOLAAS WiTSEN. Translated and Edited by the Earl of 
Ellesmere. With an Introduction by Richard Henry Major, F.S.A., 
Keeper of Maps, British Museum, Sec. R.G.S. pp. xv. vi. 153. Index. 

f Out of print. ) Issued for 1855. 

18— A Collection of Documents on Spitzbergen and Greenland, 

Comprising a Translation from F. Martens' Voyage to Spitzbergen, 1671 ; a 
Translation from Isaac de la Peyrkre's Histoire du Greenland, 1663, and 
God's Power and Providence in the Preservation of Eight Men in Greenland 
Nine Moneths and Twelve Dayes. 1630. Edited by Adam White, of the 
British Museum, pp. xvi. 288. 2 Maps. Index. Issued for 1856. 

19— The Voyage of Sir Henry Middleton to Bantam and the Maluco Islands, 

Being the Second Voyage set forth by the Governor and Company of 
Merchants of London trading into the East Indies. From the (rare) Edition 
of 1606. Annotated and Edited by Bolton Corney. M.R.S.L. pp. xi. %t,. 
52. viii. 3 Maps. 3 Illus. Bibliography. Index. 

{Otitofprhtt). Issued for 1856. 

20— Russia at the Close of the Sixteenth Century. 

Comprising the Treatise, "The Russe Commonwealth" by Dr. Giles 
Fletcher, and the Travels of Sir Jerome Horsey, Knt., now for the first 
time printed entire from his own MS. Edited by Sir Edward Augustus 
Bond, K.C.B., Principal Librarian of the British Museum, pp. cxxxiv. 392. 
Index. Issued for 1857. 

21— History of the New World. By Girolamo Benzoni, of Milan. 
Showing his Travels in America, from A.d. 1541 to 1556, with some 
particulars of the Island of Canary. Now first Translated and Edited by 
Admiral William Henry Smyth, K.S.F., F.R.S., D.C.L. pp. iv. 280. 
19 Illus. Index. Issued for 1857. 

22— India in the Fifteenth Century. 

Being a Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India m the century pieceding 
the Portuguese discovery of the Cape of Good Hope ; from Latin, Persian, 
Russian, and Italian Sources. Now first Translated into English. Edited 
with an Introduction bv Richard Henry Major, F.S.A., Keeper of 
Maps, British Museum, pp. xc. 49. 39. 32. 10. Index. 

( Out of print. ) Issued for I S58. 

23— Narrative of a Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico, 

In the years 1599-1602, with 4 Maps and 5 Illustrations. By Samuel 
Champlain. Translated from the original and unpublished Manuscript, 
with a Biographical Notice and Notes by Alice Wilmere. Edited by 
Norton Shaw. pp. xcix. 48. Issued for 1858. 

24— Expeditions into the Valley of the Amazons, 1539, 1540, 1639, 

Containing the Journey of Gonzalo Pizarro, from the Royal Commen- 
taries of Garcilasso Inca de la Vega ; the Voyage of Francisco de Orellana, 
from the General History of Herrera; and the Voyage of Cristoval de Acuna. 
Translated and Edited by SiR Clements R. Makkham, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. Ixiv. 190. I Map. List of Tribes in the Valley of the 
Amazons. Issued for 1859. 



Vll 

25— Early Voyages to Terra Australis, 

Now called Australia. A Collection of documents, and extracts from early 
MS. Maps, illustrative of the history of discovery on the coasts of that vast 
Island, from the bes^inning of the Sixteenth Century to the time of Captain' 
Cook. Edited with an Introduction by Richard Henry Major, F.S.A., 
Keeper of Maps, British Museum, Sec. R.G.S. pp. cxix. 200. 13. 5 Maps. 
Index. {Out of print.) Issued for iS'^() 

26— Nappative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court 
of Timoup, at Samarcand, A.D., 1403-6. 

Translated for the first time with Notes, a Preface, & an introductory Life of 
Timour Beg, by SiR Ci.rments R. Markham, K.C B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. 
R.G.S. pp. Ivi. 200. I Map. Issued for i860. 

27— Henry Hudson the Navigator, 1607-13. 

The Original Documents in which his career is recorded. Collected, partly 
Translated, & annotated with an Introduction by George Michael 
ASHER, LL. D. pp. ccxviii. 292. 2 Maps. Bibliography. Index. 

Issued for i860. 

28— The Expedition of Pedro de Ursua and Lope de Aguirre, 

In search of El Dorado and Omagua, in 1560-61. Translated from Fray 
Pedro Simon's " Sixth Historical Notice of the Conquest of Tierra Firme," 
1627, by William BiH.laek'I', F.R.G.S. With an Introduction by Sir 
Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. lii. 237. 
I Map. Issued for 1861. 

29- The Life and Acts of Don Alonzo Enriquez de Guzman, 

A Knight of Seville, of the Order of Santiago, A.D. 15 18 to 1543. Translated 
from an original & inedited MS. in the National Library at Madrid. With 
Notes and an Introduction by SiR Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., 
F.R.S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. xxxv. 168. i Illus. Issued for \^(32. 

30— The Discoveries of the World 

From their first original unlo the year of our Lord 1555. By Antonio 
Galvano, Governor of Ternate. [Edited by F. de Sousa Tavares.]; 
Corrected, quoted, & published in England by Richard Hakluyt, 1601. 
Now reprinted, with ihe original Portuguese text (1563), and edited by 
Admiral Charles Ramsay Drinkwater Bethune, C.B. pp. iv. viiii. 242. 

Issued for 1862. 

31— Mirabilia Descripta. The Wonders of the East. 

By Friar Jordan us, of the Order of Preachers & Bishop of Columbum in 
India the Greater, circa 1 330. Translated from the Latin Original, as published 
at Paris in 1839, in the Reciieil de Voyages et de Menioires, of the Societe de 
Geographie. With the addition of a Commentary, by Col. Sir Henry 
Yule, K.C.S.I. , R.E., C.B. pp. iv. xviii. 68. Index. Isszied for 1863. 

32— The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema 

In Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, India, & Ethiopia, A.D. 1503 to 1508. 
Translated from the original Italian edition of 15 10, with a Preface, by 
John Winter Jones, F.S. A., Principal Librarian of the British Museum, 
& Edited, with Notes & an Introduction, by the Rev. George Percv 
Badger, pp. cxxi. 321. i Map. Index. Issued for 1863. 



Vlll 

33— The Travels of Pedro de Cieza de Leon, A.D. 1532-50, 

From the Gulf of Darien to the City of La Plata, contamed m the first part of 
his Chronicle of Peru (Antwerp, 1554). Translated & Edited, with Notes 
& an Introduction, by SiR Ci.kmknts R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. xvi. Ivii. 438. Index. 

(Vol, 2 = No. 68.) Issued for 1864. 

34— Narrative of the Proceedings of Pedrarias Davila 

In the Provinces of Tierra Firme or Castilla del Oro, & of the discovery of the 
South Sea and the Coasts of Peru and Nicaragua. Written by the Adelantado 
Pascual de Andagoya. Translated and Edited, with Notes & an Introduc- 
tion, by Sir Clemknts R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. 
pp. xxix. 88. I Map. Index. Issued for 1865. 

35— A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar 

In the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, by DuARTE Barbosa, a 
Portuguese. Translated from an early Spanish manuscript in the Barcelona 
Library, with Notes & a Preface, by Lord Stanley of Alderley. 
pp. xi. 336. 2 Illus. Index. Issued for 1865. 

36-37— Cathay and the Way Thither. 

Being a Collection of medieval notices of China, previous to the Sixteenth 
Centuiy. Translated and Edited by Colonel Sir Henry Yule, K.C.S.I., 
R.E. C.B. Wiih a preliminary Essay on the intercourse between China & the 
Western Nations previous to the discovery of the Cape Route. 2 vols. 
3 Maps. 2 Illus. Bibliography. Index. 

{Out of print. Neiu Edition in pj-eparation.) Issued for 1866. 

38— The Three Voyages of Sir Martin Frobisher, 
In search of a Passage to Cathaia & India by the North- West, A.D. 1 576-8. 
By George Best. Reprinted from the First Edition of Hakluyt's Voyages. 
With Selections from MS. Documents in the British Museum & State Paper 
Office. Edited by Admiral Sir Richard Collinson, K.C.B. pp. xxvi. 
376. 2 Maps. I Illus. Index. Issued for 1867. 

39— The Philippine Islands, 

Moluccas, Siam, Cambodia, Japan, and China, at the close of the l6th Century. 
By Antonio de Morga, 1609. Translated from the Spanish, with Notes & 
a Preface, and a Letter from Luis Vaez de Torres, describing his Voyage 
through the Torres Straits, by Lord Stanley of Alderley. pp. xxiv. 431. 
2 Illus. Index. Issued for 1868. 

40— The Fifth Letter of Hernan Cortes 

To the Emperor Charles V., containing an Account of his Expedition to 
Honduras in 1525-26. Translated from the original Spanish by Don 
Pascual de Gayangos. pp. xvi. 156. Index. Issued for 1868. 

41— The Royal Commentaries of the Yncas. 

By the Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega. Translated and Edited, with Notes 
& an Introduction, by SiR Clements R. Markham, K.C.B. F.R.S., 
ex-Pres. R.G.S. Vol. i. (Books I. -IV.) pp. xi. 359. i Map. Index. 
(Vol. 2.= No. 45.) Issued for \Seg. 

42— The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama, 

And his Viceroyalty, from the Lendas da India of Caspar Corkea ; accom- 
panied by original documents. Translated from the Portuguese, with Notes 
& an Introduction, by Lord Stanley of Alderley. pp. Ixxvii. 430. 
XXXV. 3 Illus, Index. (Out of print.) Issued for i?,6g. 



IX 

43— Select Letters of Christopher Columbus. 
Wiih other Original Documents relating to his Four Voyages to the New 
■\^'orld. Translated and Edited by Richard Henry Major, F.S.A., 
Keeper of Maps, British Museum, Sec. R.G.S. Second Edition, pp. iv. 142. 
3 Maps. I Illus. Index. 

(First Edition = No. 2.) Issued for 1870. 

44— History of the Imams and Seyyids of 'Oman, 
By SaliL-Ibx-RaziK, from a.D. 661-1856. Translated from the original 
Arabic, and Edited, with a continuation of the History down to 1870, by the 
Rev. George Percy Badger, F. R.G.S. pp. cxxviii. 435. i Map. Biblio- 
graphy. Index. Issued for 1870. 

45— The Royal Commentaries of the Yneas. 

By the Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega. Translated & Edited with Notes, 

an Introduction, & an Analytical Index, by SiR Clements R. Markham 

K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. Vol. II. (Books V.-IX.) pp. 553. 

(Vol. i.=No. 41.) Issiied jor xZ'ji. 

46— The Canarian, 

Or Book of the Conquest and Conveision of the Canarians in the year 1402, 
by Messire Jean de Bethencourt, Kt. Composed by Pierre Bonlier and 
Jean le Verrier. Translated and Edited by Richard Henry Major, F.S. A., 
Keeper of Maps, British Museum, Sec. R.G.S. pp. Iv. 229. i Map. 2 Illus. 
Index. Issued for 1871. 

47— Reports on the Discovery of Peru. 

I. Report of Francisco de Xeres. Secretarv to Francisco Pizarro. II. Report 
of Miguel de Astete on the Expedition to Pachacamac. III. Letter of 
Hernando Pizarro to the Royal Audience of Santo Domingo. IV. Report of 
Pedro Sancho on the Partition of the Ransom of Atahuallpa. Trani-laicO and 
Edited, with Notes & an Introduction, by SiR Clemenis R. Markham, 
K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. xxii. 143. i Map. Issued for 1872. 

48— Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Yneas. 
Translated from the original Spanish MSS., & Edited, with Notes and an 
Introduction, fiy SiR Clements K. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. 
K.G.S. pp. XX. 220. Index. Issued for 1872. 

49— Travels to Tana and Persia, 

By JosAKA Barbaro and Ambrogio Contarini. Translated from the 
Italian by William Thomas, Clerk of the Council to Edward VI., and by 
E. A. Roy, and Edited, with an Introduction, by Lord Sianley of 
Alderley. pp. xi. 175. Index. A Narrative of Italian Travels in Persia, 
in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries. Translated and Edited by 
Charles Grey. pp. xvii. 231. Index. Issued for 1873. 

50 The Voyages of the Venetian Brothers, Nicolo & Antonio Zeno, 
To the Northern Seas in the Fourteenih century. Comprising the latest 
Icnown accounts of the Lost Colony of Greenland, & of the ISorthmen in 
America before Columbus. Translated & Edited, with Notes and Introduc- 
tion, by Richard Henry Major, F.S A., Keeper of Maps, British 
Museum, Sec. R.G.S. pp. ciii. 64. 2 Maps. Index. Issued Jor 1873. 

51— The Captivity of Hans Stade of Hesse in 1547-55, 

Amone; the Wild Tribes of Eastern Brazil. Translated by ALBERT Tootal, 
■of Rio de Janiero, and annotated by SiR Richard Francis Burton, 
K.C. M.G. pp. xcvi. 169. Bibliography. Issued for \%-j\. 



52-The First Voyage Round the World by Magellan. 1518-1521. 

Translated from the Accounts of Pigafetta and other contemporary writers. 
Accompanied by original Documents, with Notes & an Introduction, by LORD 
Stanley of Alderley. pp. Ix. 257. xx. 2 Maps. 5 Illus. Index. 

Issued for 1874. 

53— The Commentaries of the Great Afonso DalbOQuerque, 

Second Viceroy of India. Translated from the Portuguese Edition of I774> 
and Edited by Wal'I'er de Gray Birch, F. K.S.L. , of the British Museunu 
Vol. I. pp. Ix. 256. 2 Maps. I Illus. (Index in No. 69.) 

(Vol. 2 = No. 55. Vol. 3 = No. 62. Vol. 4 = No. 69.) Issued for 1875. 

54— The Three Voyages of William Barents to the Arctic Regions, in 1594, 

1595, & 1595. 
By Gerrit de Veer. Edited, with an Introduction, by Lieut. Koolemans 
Beynen, of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Second Edition, pp. clxxiv. 289. 
2 Maps. 12 Illus. Issued for 1876. 

(First Edition = No. 13.) 

55— The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, 

Second Viceroy of India. Translated from the Portuguese Edition of 1774, 
with Notes and an Introduction, by Walter de Gray Birch, F.R.S.L., of 
the British Museum. Vol. 2. pp. cxxxiv. 242. 2 Maps 2 Illus. (Index in 
No. 69. ) Issued for 1875. 

(Vol. i=No. 53. Vol. 3 -No. 62. Vol. 4 = No. 69.) 

56— The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster, Knt., to the East Indies, 

With Abstracts of Journals of Voyages to the East Indies, during the Seven- 
teenth century, preserved in the India Otificc, & Uic Voyage of Captain JOHN 
Knight, 1606, to seek the North-West Passage. EHn&i by Sir Ci.emen is 
R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R. S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. xxii. 314. Index. 

Issued for 1877. 

57— The Hawkins' Voyages 

During the reigns of Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, and James I. [Second 
edition of No. i.] Edited by Sir Clements R. Markham, K C.B., F.R.S., 
ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. lii. 453. I Illus. Index. Issued for 1877. 

(First Edition = No. i). 

58— The Bondage and Travels of Johann Schiltberger, a Native of Bavaria» 
in Europe, Asia, & Africa. 

From his capture at the battle of Nicopolis in 1396 to his escape and return 
to Europe m 1427. Translated from the Heidelberg MS., Edited in 1859 Ijy 
Professor Karl Fr. Neumann, by Commander John Buchan Telfek, 
R.N.; F.S.A. With Notes bv Professor P. Bku UN, & a Preface, Introduction^ 
& Notes by the Translator & Editor. pp. xxxii. 263. i Map. Bibliography. 
Index. Issued for 1878. 

59— The Voyages and Worics of John Davis the Navigator. 
Edited by Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham. K.C.B. 
pp. xcv. 392. 2 Maps. 15 Illus. Bibliography. Index. Issued for iSj^. 

The Map ot the World, A.D. 1600. 

Called by Shakspere " The New Map, with the Augmeniiition of the Indies." 
To illustrate the \'oyages of John Davis. Issued for 1878. 



60-61 -The Natural & Moral History of the Indies. 

By Father Joseph de Acosta. Reprinted from ihc English Translated Ediiion 
of Edward Grimston, 1604; and Edited by Sir Clements R. Makkham, 
K,C.B., F.R.S , ex-Pres. R.G.S. Vol. i, The Natural History Books, I. -IV 
pp. xlv. 295. Vol. 2, The Moral History Books, V.-VH. pp. xiii. 295-551. 
Index. Issued for 1879. 

Map of Peru. 

To Illustiate Nos. 33, 41, 45, 60, and 61. Issued for 1879. 

62— The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, 

Second Viceroy of India. Translated from the Portue;uese Edition of I774> 
with Notes & an Introduction, by Walter de Gray Birch, F.S.A., of 
the British Museum. Vol. 3. pp. xliv. 308. 3 Maps. 3 lUus. (Index in 
No. 69.) Issued for 1880. 

63-The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612-1622. 
Edited, with Notes & an Intioduction, by Sir Clemknts R. Markham, 
K.C.B., F. K.S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. lix. 192. 8 Maps, i Illus. Index. 

Issued for 1 880. 

64— Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia 

During the years 1520-1527. Bv Kaiher FraN'CISCO Alvarez. Translated 
from the Portuguese «& Edited, with Notes & an Introduction, by Lord 
Stanley of Alderley. pp. xxvii. 416. Index. Issued for 188 [. 

65— The History of the Bermudas or Summer Islands, 

Attributed to Capiain Nathaniel Butler. Edited from a MS. in the 
Sloane Collection, British Museum, by General Sir John Henry Lefroy, 
R.A., K.C.M.G., C.B., F.R.S. pp. xh. 327. i xMap. 3 Illus. Glossary. 
Index. Issued for 1881. 

66-67— The Diary of Richard Cocks, 

Cape-Merchant in the English Factory in Japan, 1615-1622, with Corres- 
pondence (Add. MSS. 31,300-1, British Museum). Edited by SiR Edward 
Maunde Thompson, K.C.B., Director of the British Museum. Vol. i. 
pp. liv. 349. Vol. 2, pp. 368. Index. Issued jor 1882. 

68— The Second Part of the Chronicle of Peru, 1532-1550 

By Pedro de Cieza de Leon. 1554. Translated and Edited, with Notes 
& an Introduction, by Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., 
ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. Ix. 247. Index. Issued for 1883. 

(Vol. i = No. 33.) 

69— The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, 

Second Viceroy of India. Translated from the Portuguese Edition of 1774, 
with Notes & an Introduction, by Walter de Gray Birch, F.S.A., of the 
British Museum. Vol. 4. pp. xxxv. 324. 2 Maps. 2 Illus. Index to the 
4 vols. Issued for 1883. 

(Vol. i = No. 53. Vol. 2 = No. 55. Vol. 3 = No. 62.) 

70-71- The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten to the East Indies. 

From the Old English Translation of 1598. The First Book, contaming his 
Description of the East. In Two Volumes, Edited, the First Volume, by 
the late Arthur Coke Burnrli, Ph.D., CLE., Madras C. S. ; the 
Second Volume, by PiETER Anton Tiele, of Utrecht. Vol i. pp. Hi. 307. 
Vol, 2. pp. XV. 341. Index. Issued for 1884. 



xu 

72-73— Early Voyages and Travels to Russia and Persia, 

By Anthony Jenkinson and other Englishmen, with some account of the 
first Intercourse of the Enghsh with Russia and Central Asia by way of the 
Caspian Sea. Edited by Edward Delmar Morgan, and Charles Henry 
CooTE, of the British Museum. Vol. I. pp. clxii. 176. 2 Maps. 2 Illus. 
Vol. 2. pp. 177-496. 2 Maps. I Illus. Index. Is sited for 1885. 

74-75— The Diary of William Hedges, Esq., 

Afterwards SiR William Hedges, during his Agency ni Bengal ; as well as on 
his Voyage out and Return Overland (1681-1687). Transcribed for the Press, 
with Introductory Notes, etc., by R. Barlow, and Illustrated by copious 
Extracts from Unpublished Records, etc., by Col. Sir Henry Yule, 
K.C.S.I., R.E., C.B., LL.D. Vol. i. The Diary, with Index, pp. xii. 265. 
Vol. 2. Notices regarding Sir William Hedges, Documentary Memoirs of Job 
Charnock, and other Biographical & Miscellaneous Illustrations of the time in 
India, pp. ccclx. 287. 18 Illus. Issued for 1886. 

(Vol. 3 = No. 78.) 

76-77— The Voyage of Frangois Pyrard, of Laval, to the East Indies, 
The Maldives, the Moluccas and Brazd. Translated mto English from the 
Third French Edition of 1619, and Edited, with Notes, by Albert 
Gray, K.C, assisted by Harry Charles Purvis Bell, Ceylon C. S. 
Vol. I. pp. Iviii. I Map. ii Illus. Vol. 2. Part I. pp. xlvii. 287. 7 Illus. 
(Vol. 2. Part II. =No. 80.) Issued for 1887. 

78— The Diary of William Hedges, Esq. 

Vol. 3. Documentary Contributions to a Biography of Thomas Pitt, Governor 
of Fort St. George, with Collections on the Early Historj' of the Company's 
Settlement in Bengal, & on Early Charts and Topography of the Ilugli River, 
pp. cclxii. I Map. 8 Illus. Index to Vols. 2, 3. Issued for 1888. 

(Vols. I, 2 = Nos. 74, 75.) 

79— Tractatus de Globis, et eorum usu. 

A Treatise descriptive of the Globes constructed by Emeiy Molyneux, and 
Published in 1592. By Robert Hues. Edited, with annotated Indices & an 
Introduction, by SiR Clements K. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. 
R.G.S. To which is appended. 

Sailing Directions for the Circumnavigation of England, 

And for a Voyage to the Straits of Gibraltar. From a Fifteenth Century 
MS. Edited, with an Account of the MS., by James Gairdner, of the 
Public Record Office ; wnh a Glossary by Edward Delmar Morgan. 
pp. 1. 229. 37. I Illus. I Map. Issued for 1888. 

80— The Voyage of Frangois Pyrard, of Laval, to the East Indies, the 
Maldives, the Moluccas, and Brazil. 

Translated into English from the Third French Edition of 1619, and Edited, 
with Notes, by Albert Gray, K.C, assisted by Harry Charles Purvis 
Bell, Ceylon Civil Service. Vol 2. Pt. II. pp. xii. 289-572. 2 Maps. Index. 
(Vol I. Vol. 2. Pt. I. =Nos. 76, 77.) Issued Jar 1889, 

81— The Conquest of La Plata, 1535-1555. 
I. — Voyage of Ulrich Schmidt to the Rivers La Plata and Paraguai, from 
the original German edition, 1567. II. The Commentaries of Alvar Nunez 
Cabeza de Vaca. From the original Spanish Edition, 1555. Translated, 
with Notes and an Introduction, by II. E. DON Luis L. Dominguez, 
Minister Plenipotentiary of the Argentine Republic, pp. xlvi. 282. i Map, 
Bibliography. Index. Issued for 1889. 



XUl 

82-83-The Voyage of Francois Leguat, of Bresse, 1690-98. 

To Rodriguez, Mauritius, Java, and the Cape of Good Mope. Transcribed 
from the First English Edition, 1 708. Edited and Annotated by Capt. Samuel 
Pasfield Oliver, (late) R.A. Vol i. pp. Ixxxviii. 137. i Illus. 6 Maps. 
Bibliography. Vol. 2. pp. xviii. 433. 5 Illus. 5 Maps. Index. 

Is sited for 1890. 

84-85 -The Travels of Pietro della Valle to India. 

P'rom the Old English Translation of 1664, by G. Havers. Edited, with 
a Life of the Author, an Introduction & Notes by Edward Grey, late 
Bengal C. S. Vol. i. pp. Ivi. 192. 2 Maps. 2 Illus. Bibliography. Vol. 2. 
pp. xii. 193-456. Index. Issued for \%(^i. 

86— The Journal of Christopher Columbus 

During his First Voyage (1492-93), and Documents relatmg to the Voyages 
of John Cabot and Caspar Corte Real. Translated, with Notes & an 
Introduction, by SiR Clements K. Makkham, K.C.B., F. R.S., ex-Pres. 
R.G.S. pp. liv. 259. 3 Maps. I Illus. Index. Issued for 1892. 

87— Early Voyages and Travels in the Levant. 

I. — The Diary of Master Thomas Dallam, 1599- 1600. II.— Extracts from 
the Diaries of Dr. John Covel, 1670- 1679. With some Account of the 
Levant Company of Turkey Merchants. Edited by James Theodore Bent, 
F.S.A., F. R.G.S. pp. xlv. 305. Illus. Index. 

Issued for 1892. 

88-89— The Voyages of Captain Luke Foxe, of Hull, and Captain Thomas 
James, of Bristol, 

In Search of a N.-W. Passage, 1631-32 ; with Narratives of the Earlier 
North-West Voyages of FroVnsher, Davis, Weymouth, Hall, Knight, Hudson, 
Button, Gibbons, Bylot, Baffin, Hawkridge, & others. Edited, with Notes & 
an Introduction, by Robert Miller Christy, P\L.S. Vol. i. pp. ccxxxi. 
259. 2 Maps. 2 Illus. Vol. 2. pp. viii. 261-681. 3 Maps. I Illus. Index. 

Issued for 1893. 

90— The Letters ot Amerigo Vespucci 

And other Documents illustrative of his Career. Translated, with Notes & 
an Introduction, by SiR Clements K. Makkham, K.C.B., F. R.S., ex-Pres. 
R.G.S. pp. xliv. 121. I Map. Index. 

Issued for 1894. 

91— Narratives of the Voyages of Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa to the 

Straits ot Magellan, 1579-80. 

Translated and Edited, with Illustrative Documents and Introduction, by 

Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., ex-Pres. R.G.S. pp. xxx. 

401. I Map. Index. 

Issued for 1894. 

92-93-94— The History and Description of Africa, 

And of the Notable Things Therein Contained. Written by Al-Hassan Ibn- 
Mohammed Al-Wezaz Al-Fasi, a Moor, baptized as Giovanni Leone, but 
better known as Leo African us. Done into English in the year 1600 by 
John Pory, and now edited with an Introduction & Notes, by Dr. Robert 
Brown. In 3 Vols. Vol. i. pp. viii. cxi. 224. 4 Maps. Vol. 2. pp. 225-698. 
Vol. 3. pp. 699-1 1 19. Index. 

Issued for 1S95. 



95— The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. 

Written by GoMES Eannes de Azurara. Now first done into English 
and Edited by Charles Raymond ]5eazley, M.A., F.R.G.S., and Edgar 
Prestage, B.A. Vol. I. (Ch. i. — xl.) With Introduction on the Life & 
Writings of the Chronicler, pp. Ixvii. 127. 3 Maps, i Illus. 

(Vol. 2 = No. 100.) Issued for 1896. 

96-97— Danish Arctic Expeditions, 1605 to 1620. In Two Books. 

Book I. The Danish Expeditions to Greenland, 1605-07; to which is added 
Captain James Hall's Voyage to Greenland in 1612. Edited by Christian 
Carl August Gosch. pp. xvi. cxvii. 205. 10 Maps. Index. 

Issued for 1896. 

Book 2. The Expedition of Captain Jens Munk to Hudson's Bay in search 
of a North- West Passage in 1619-20. Edited by Christian Carl August 
Gosch. pp. cxviii. 187. 4 Maps. 2 Illus. Index. Issued for 1S97. 

98— The Topographia Christiana of Cosmas Indicopleustes, an 
Egyptian Monk. 

Translated from the Greek and Edited by John Watson McCrindle, LL.D., 
M.R.A.S. pp. xii. xxvii. 398. 4 Illus. Index. Issued for 1897. 

99— A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama, 1497-1499. 

By an unknown writer. Translated from the Portuguese, with an Intro- 
duction and Notes, by Ernest George Ravenstein, F.R.G.S. pp. xxxvi. 
250. 8 Maps. 23 Illus. Index. Issued for 1S98. 

100— The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. 

Written by Gomes Eannes de Azurara. Now first done into English and 
Edited by Charles Raymond Beazley, M.A., F.R.G.S., and Edgar 
Prestage, B.A. Vol. 2. (Ch. xli. — xcvii.) With an Introduction on the 
Early History of African Exploration, Cartography, &c. pp. cl. 362. 3 Maps. 
2 Illus. Index. Issued for 1898. 

(Vol. i=No. 95.) 



XV 



WORKS ALREADY ISSUED. 



SECOND SERIES. 
1899, etc. 

1-2— The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul, 

1615-19. 

Edited from Contemporary Records by William Foster, B.A., of the 
India Office. 2 vols. Portrait, 2 Maps, & 6 Illus. Index. 

{Out of print.) Issued for 1899. 

3— The Voyage of Sir Robert Dudley to the West Indies and 
Guiana In 1594. 

Edited by George Frederic Warner, Litt.D., F.S.A., Keeper of 
Manuscripts, British Museum. pp. Ixvi. 104. Portrait, Map, A: i Illus. 
Index. Issued for 1899. 

4— The Journeys of William of Rubruck and John of Plan de Carpine 

To Tartary in the 13th century. Translated and Edited by H. E. the Hon. 
Wm. Woodville Rockhill. pp. Ivi. 304. Bibliography. Index. 

( Out of print. ) Issued for 1 900. 

5— The Voyage of Captain John Saris to Japan in 1613. 

Edited by H. E. Sir Ernest Mason Satow, G.C.M.G. pp. Ixxxvii. 242. 
Map, & 5 Illus. Index. Isstied for 1900. 

6— The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell of Leigh in Essex. 
Edited by Ernest George Ravenstein, F.R.G.S. pp. xx. 210.2 Maps. 
Bibliography. Index. Issiied /or 1900. 

7-8— The Voyage of Mendana to the Solomon Islands in 1568. 

Edited by the I OkU Amherst of Hackney and Basil Thomson. 2 vols. 
5 Maps. iX: 33 Illus. Index. (Out of print.) Issued for 1901. 

9- The Journey of Pedro Teixeira from India to Italy by land, 1604-05; 

With his Chronicle of the Kings of Ormus. Translated and Edited by William 
Frederic Sinclair, late Bombay C. S., with additional Notes, &c., by 
Donald William Ferguson, pp. cvii. 292. Index. 

{Out of print. ) Issued for 1 90 1 . 

10 -The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541, as narrated by 

Castanhoso and Bermudez. Edited by Richard Stephen Whiteway, 
late I.C.S. With a Bibliography, by Basil H. Soulsby, F.S.A., Super- 
intendent of the Map Department, British Museum, pp. cxxxii. 296. Map, (\: 
2 Illus. Bibliography. Index. {Out of print.) Issued for i<)02. 

11 — Early Dutch and English Voyages to Spitzbergen in the Seventeenth 

Century, 

Including Hessel Gerritsz. " Plistoire du Pays nomme Spitsberghe,"' 1613, 
translated into English, for the first time, by Basil H. Soulsby, P'.S.A., of 
the British Museum : and Jacob Segersz. van der Brugge, "Journael of Dagh 
Register," Amsterdam, 1634, translated inio English, for the first lime, by 
J. A. J. de Villiers, of the British Museum. Edited, with introductions 
and notes by Sir Martin Conway. pp. xvi. 191. 3 Maps, & 3 Illus. 
Bibliography. Index. Issued for 1902. 



XVI 

12— The Countries round the Bay of Bengal. 

Edited, from an unpublished MS., 1669-79, by Thomas Bowrey, by Col. Sir 
Richard Carnac Temple, Bart., CLE. pp. Ivi. 387. 19 Illus. & i Chart. 
Bibliography. Index. Issued for 1903. 

13— The Voyage of Captain Don Felipe Gonzalez 

in the Ship of the Line San Lorenzo, with the Frigate Santa Rosalia in 
company, to Easter Island, in 1770-1771. Preceded by an Extract from 
Mynheer Jacob Roggeveen's Oiificial Log of his Discovery of and Visit ta 
Easter Island in 1722. Translated, Annotated, and Edited by Boi.ton 
Glanvill Corney, Companion of the Imperial Service Order. With a 
Preface by Admiral SiR Cyprian Bridge, G.C.B. 3 Maps & 4 Illus. 
Bibliography. Index, pp. Ixxvii. 176. Issued for 1903. 

14, 15— The Voyages of Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, 1595 to 1606. 

Translated and Edited by SiR Clements Markham, K.C.B., Pres. R.G.S., 
President of the Hakluyt Society. With a Note on the Cartography of the 
Southern Continent, and a Bibliography, by Basil H. Soulsby, F.S.A., 
Superintendent of the Map Department, British Museum. 2 vols 3 Maps. 
Bibliography. Index. Issued for 1904. 

16-John Jourdain's Journal of a Voyage to the East Indies, 1608-1617. 

(Sloane MS. 858, British Museum). Edited by William Foster, B.A., 
of the India Office, pp. Ixxxii. 394. With Appendices, A— F, and a Biblio- 
graphy, by Basil H. Soulsby, F.S.A. 4 Maps. Index. Issued for 1905. 

17 -The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667. 

(Bodleian Library. Rawl. MSS. A. 315.) Vol. I. Travels in Europe, 
160S-1628. Edited by Lieut. -Col. SiR Richard Carnac Temple, Bart., 
CLE., Editor of " A Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of 
Bengal." 3 Maps & 3 Illus. With a Bibliography, alphabetically arranged. 
Index, pp. Ixiii. 284. Issued for \()0^. 

18— East and West Indian Mirror. 

By Joris van Speilbergen. An Account of his Voyage Round the World 
in the years 1614 to 1617, including the Australian Navigations of Jacob le 
Maire. Translated from the Dutch edition, " Oost ende West-Indische 
Spiegel, &c. ," Nicolaes van Gcelkerckm : Leyden, 1619, with Notes and an 
Introduction, by John A. J. de Villiers, of the British Museum. With a 
Bibliography & Index by Basil H. Soulsby, F.S.A. 26 Illus. & Maps. 
Index, pp. Ixi. 272. Issued for 1906. 

19— A New Account of East India and Persia. 

In eight Letters, being Nine Years' Travels, begun 1672, and finished 1681. 
By John Fryer, M.D., Cantabrig., and Fellow of the Royal Society. 
Printel hy R. K. for Ri. Chiswell ; at the Rose and Cro^un in St. Paul's 
Clnirchyard, London, 1688. Fol. Edited, with Notes and an Introduction, 
by William Crooke, B.A. , Bengal Civil Service (retired). Editor of 
" Hobson Jobson,'" &c., &c. Vol. i. Issued for igoc). 

21— The Guanches of Tenerife, The Holy Image of Our Lady of Candelaria. 

With the Spanish Conquest and Settlement. By the Friar Alonso de 
Espinosa, of the Order of Preachers. 1594. Translated and Edited, with 
Notes and an Introduction, by Sir Clkments Markham, K.C.B., President of 
the Hakluyt Society. With a Bibliography of the Canary Islands, A.D. 1341- 
1907, chronologically arranged, with the British Museum press-marks, and an 
alphabetical list of authors, editors, and titles. 2 Maps, by Sir Clements 
Markham, and 4 Illus. Index, pp. xxvi. 221. Issued for 1907. 



^ 



XVll 

22— History of the Incas. 
By Pedro Sarmiento ue Gamboa. 1572. From the MS. sent to 
King Philip II. of Spain, and now in the Gottingen University Library. 
And The Execution of the Inca Tupac Amaru. 1571. By Captain 
Baltasar de Ocampo. 1610. (British Museum Add. MSS. 17, 585.) 
Translated and Edited, with Notes and an Introduction, by Sir Clements 
Markham, K.C.B. 2 Maps, by Graham Mackay, R.G.S., and 10 Illus. 
Index, pp. xxii. 395. 

Supplement. A Narrative of the Vice-Regal Embassy to Vilcabambal 

1571, and of the Execution of the Inca Tupac Amaru, Dec. 1571. By Friar 
Gabriel de Oviedo, of Cuzco, 1573. Translated by Sir Clements 
Markham, K C.B. Index, pp. 397-412. Issued for 1907. 

23, 24., 25— Conquest of Newr Spain. 
The True History of the Conquest of New Spain. By Bernal Diaz 
del Castillo, one of its Conquerors. From the only exact copy made of the 
•Original Manuscript. Edited and published in Mexico, by Genaro Garcia, 
1904. Translated into English, with Introduction and Notes, by ALFRED 
Percival ]Maudsi.ay, M.A. , Hon. Professor of Archaeology, National 
Museum, Mexico. Vols, i-lll. Issued for 190S aud 1910. 

26, 27.— Storm van's Gravesande. 

The Rise of British Guiana, compiled from his despatches, by C. A. Harris, 
■C.B., C.M.G., Chief Clerk, Colonial Office, and J. A. j. DE Villiers, 
■of the British Museum. 2 vols. Issiud for igii. 

28.— Magellan's Strait. 

Early Spanish Voyages, edited, with Notes and Introduction, by Sir Clements 
R. Markham, K.C.B. /// the press. 



EXTRA SERIES. 

1-12— The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Trafflques, & Discoveries of the 

English Nation, 
Made by Sea or Over-land to the remote and farthest distant quarters of the 
earth at any time within the compasse of these 1600 yeeres. By Richard 
Hakluyt, Preacher, aad sometime Student of Christ Church in Oxford. 
With an Essay on the English Voyages of the Sixteenth Century, by 
Walter Raleigh, Professor of the English Language in the University of 
Oxford. Index by Madame Marie Michon and Miss Elizabeth Carmont. 
12 vols. James MacLehose & Sons : Glasgow, 1903-5. [Out of print.) 

13— The Texts & Versions of John de Piano Carpini and William de 
Rubruquis. 

As printed for the first time by Hakluyt in 1598, together with some shorter 
pieces. Edited by Charles Raymond Beazley, M.A., F.R.G.S. 
pp. XX. 345. Index. University Press: Cambridge, 1903. ( Out of print.) 

14-33— Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas His Pilgrimes. 

Contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells by 
Englishmen and others. By Samuel Purchas, B.D. 20 vols. Maps <& 
Illus. With an Index by Madame Marie Michon. James MacLehose and 
Sons : Glasgow, 1905-7. 



XVlll 



OTHER WOEKS UNDERTAKEN BY EDITORS. 



1. Cathay and the Way Thither. Translated and Edited by the late 

Colonel Sir Henry Yule, K.C.S.I., R.E., C.B. Second Edition 
(of Series I., Vols. 36 & 37), by M. Henri Cordier, Professeur a 
I'Ecole Speciale des Langues Orientales Vivantes, Paris ; President 
de la Societe de Geographic, Paris. 

2. Diary of the Journey of Father Samuel Fritz, Missionary of the Crown of 

Castillc in the Rio Maraiion, from S. Joaquin de Omaguas to the 
City of Gran Para in the year ^689. Translated from the Evora 
MS., and Edited with an Introduction and Notes, by the Rev. George 
Edmundson, M.A., Vicar of St. Saviour's, Chelsea, London, S.W. 

3. The Journals of the Spanish Expeditions to Tahiti, conducted by 

Capt. Don Domingo Boenechea, and others, in the years 1772-6. 
Now first collected and translated by BoLTON Glanvill Corney, 
I.S.O. (This work, to which vol. 13 of the Second Series forms a 
precursor, will include the ten months' diary of the first European who 
who ever resided in Tahiti.) 

4. The Voyage of Sir Henry Middleton to Bantam and the Maluco Islands, 

being the Second Voyage set forth by the Governor and Company of 
Merchants of London trading into the East Indies. From the rare 
Edition of 1606. Annotated and Edited by Bolton Corney, 
M.R.S.L. New Edition (of Ser. I., vol. 19), by Bolton Glanvill 
Corney, I.S.O. 

5. The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana, with 

a relation of the great and golden City of Manoa (which the Spaniards 
call El Dorado), etc., performed in the year 1595 by Sir Walter 
Raleigh, Knt. . . . Reprinted from the edition of 1596. With some 
unpublished Documents relative to that country. Edited (in 1848) 
with copious explanatory Notes and a biographical Memoir by SiR 
Robert Hermann Schomburgk, Ph.D. Second Edition (of Ser. I, 
vol. 3), by H. E. Sir Evekard Ferdinand im Thurn, K.C.M.G., 
C.B., F.R.G.S. 

6. The Voyages of Luigi di Cadamosto, the Venetian, along the West Coast 

of Africa, in the years 1455 and 1456. Translated from the earliest 
Italian text of 1507, in Montalboddo Fracan's Paesi iiovatnente 
ritfovati, and Edited by Henry Yule Oldham, M.A., F.R.G.S. 

7. The Letters of Pietro Delia Valle from Persia, &c. Translated and 

Edited by Lieut. -Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan, K.C.M.G., 
R.E., F.R.G.S. 

AND continuations OF 

8. The Travels of Peter Mundy. (See No. 17, p. xvi. ) 

9. Fryer's East India and Persia. (See No. 19, p. xvi.) 

10. The Conquest of New Spain. (See Nos. 23, 24, 25, p. xvii.) 



XIX 



INDEX 

TO THE FIRST AXD SECOND SERIES OF THE SOCIETY'S 
PUBLICATIONS, 1847-1908. 



Abd-er-Razzak, i. 22 
Abyssinia, i. 32, 64 ; ii. 10 
Acosta, Joseph de, i. 60, 61 
Acuna, Cristoval de, i. 24 ; ii. 22 
Adams, Will., i. 8, 66, 67 ; ii. 5 
Africa, i. 21, 58, 82, 83, 92-94, 95, 100 
Africa, East, i. 32, 35, 64 ; ii. 10 
Africa, West, ii. 6 
Aguirre, Lope de, i. 28, 47 
Alamiiios, Autou de, ii. 23 
Albuquerque, Affonso de, i. 53, 55, 

62, 69 
Alcock, Thomas, i. 72, 73 
Alessaudri, Viucentio d', i. 49 
Al Hassan Ibn Muhauimad. See Hasan 
Alvarado, Pedro de. ii. 23 
Alvarez, Franci.sco, i. 64 
Alvo, Francisco, i. 52 
Amapaia, i. 3 
Amat y Junient, Manuel de. Viceroy 

of Peru, ii. 13 
Amazon, i. 24 
America, Central, i. 40 
America, North, i. 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 

18, 21, 2.3, 43, 50, 65, 96, 97 
America. South, i. 3, 21, 24, 28, 33, 

34, 41, 43, 45, 47, 51, 60, 61, 68, 

76, 77, 80, 81, 91 ; ii. 3, 13, 14, 15, 22 
Amherst of Hackney, Lord, ii. 7, 8 
Andagoya, I'ascual de, i. 34 ; ii. 22 
Augiolello, Giovanni Maria, i. 49 
Angola, ii. 6 

Aquines, Juan. See Hawkins, Sir John. 
Arabia, i. 32 ; ii. 16 
Arctic Regions, i. 13, 54, 88, 89, 96, 97 
Arias, Dr. Juan Luis, i. 25 ; ii. 14, 15 
Arias d'Avila, Pedro, i. 21, 34, 47 ; 

ii. 22, 23 
Arriaga y Rivera, Julian de, ii. 13 
Arromaia, i. 3 

Asher, George Michael, i. 27 
Asia, i. 5, 8, 13-15, 17, 19, 22, 26, 

35-39, 42, 44, 49, 53-55, 58, 62, 66, 

67, 69-78, 80, 82, 83, 87; ii. 1, 2, 4, 

5, 12, 16, 17 



Astete, Miguel de, i. 47 ; ii. 22 
Atahualpa, i. 47, 68 ; ii. 22 
Australasia, i. 25 ; ii. 7, 8, 14, 15, 18 
Avila, Francisco de, i. 48 ; ii. 22 
Avila, Pedro Arias d'. <See Arias 

d'Avila. 
Azov, i. 49 
Azurara, Gomes Eannes de. Sec 

Eannes. 

Badger, George Percy, i. 32, 44 

Baffin, William, i. 5, 63, 88, 89 

Balak, John, i. 13, 54 

Bantam, i. 19 

Barbaro, Giosafat, i. 49 

Barbosa, Duarte, i. 35, 52 

Barcelona MSS., i. 35 

Bardsen, Ivar, i. 50 

Barentsz., William, i. 13, 27, 54 

Barker, Edmund, i. 56 

Barlow, R., i. 74, 75, 78 

Barrow, John, F.R.S., i. 11 

Battell, Andrew, ii. 6 

Beazley, Charles Raymond, i. 95, 100 ; 

Extra Ser. 13 
Behrens, Carl Friedrich, ii. 13 
Beke, Charles Tilstone, i. 13, 54' 
Bell, Harry Charles Purvis, i. 76, 77, 

80 
Belraonte y Bermudez, Luis de, ii, 

14, 15 
Bengal, i. 74, 75, 78 ; ii._ 12 
Bent, James Theodore, i. 87 
Benzoni, Girolamo, i. 21 
Bermudas, i. 65, 86 
Bermudez, Joao, ii. 10 
Beste, George, i. 38 
Bethencourt, Jean de, i, 46 ; ii. 21 
Bethune, Charles Ramsay Drinkwater, 

i. 1, 30 
Beynen, Koolemans, i. 54 
Biedma, Luis Hernandez de, i. 9 
Bilot, Robert, i. 88, 89 
Birch, Walter de Gray, i. 53, 55, 62, 

69 



Bollaert, William, i. 28 

Bond, Sir Edward Augustus, K.C.B., 

i. 20 
Bontier, Pierre, i. 46 ; ii. 21 
Boty, Iver, i. 13 
Bowrey, Thomas, ii. 12 
Bracciolini, Poggio, i. 22 
Brazil, i. 51, 76, 77, 80 
Bridge, Admiral Sir Cyprian Arthur 

George, G.C.B, ii. 13 
British Guiana, ii. 26, 27 
British Museum MSS., i. 2, 4, 'k 6. 8. 

16, 20, 25, 38, 52, 53, 55, 62. 65-67, 

69 ; ii. 13, 16, 22 
Brown, Dr. Robert, i. 92-94 
Brugge, Jacob Seger.sz, van der. See 

Segersz, Jacob 
Bruun, Philip, i. 58 
Burnell Arthur Coke, C.I.E., i. 70, 71 
Burre, Walter, i. 19 
Burrough, Christopher, i. 72, 73 
Burrough, William, i. 72, 73 
Burton, Sir Richard Francis, 

K.C.M.G.,i. 51 
Butler, Nathaniel, i. 65, 86 
Button. Sir Thomas, i. 5. 88, 89 
Bylot, Robert, i. 5, 63, 88, 89 

■Cabe^a de Vaca, Alvar Nuiiez. See . 

Nunez Cabeca de Vaca. 
Cabot, John, i. 86 
Cabot, Sebastian, i. 5, 12 
Cambodia, i. 39 
Canarian, The, i. 46 ; ii. 21 
Canary Islands, i. 21, 46 ; ii. 21 
Candelaria, Our Lady of, ii. 21 
Cape of Good Hope, "i. 22, 36, 37, 82, 

83 
Garment, Elizabeth, Extra Ser. 12 
Carpino, Joannes, de Piano. See 

Joannes. 
Caspian Sea, i. 72, 73 
Cassano, Ussan. i. 49 
Castanhoso, Miguel de, ii. 10 
Castilla del Oro, i. 34, 47 
Cathay, i. 5, 13, 36-38, 54; ii. 19, 20 
Chamj)lain, Samuel, i. 23 
Chanca, Dr., i. 2, 43 
Charles V., Emj^eror, i. 40, 47 ; ii. 22, 

23,24 
Charndck, Job, i. 74. 75, 78 
Cheinie, Richard, i. 72, 73 
China, i. 5, 13-15, 17, 36, 37, 39, 54 ; ii. 

19, 20 
Christy, Robert Miller, i. 88, 89 
Cieza de Leon, Pedro de, i. 33, 68 ; ii. 

22 
Cinnamon, Land of, i. 24 
Clavigo, Ruy Gonzalez de. Sec Gon- 
zalez de Clavigo. 



Clifife, Edward, i. 16 
Clifford, George, i. 59 
Coats, William, i. 11 
Cocks, Richard, i. 8, 66, 67 
Cogswell, Joseph G., i. 27 
Collinson, Sir Richard, K.C.B.. i. 38 
Columbus, Christopher : 

Journal, i. 86 

Letters, i. 2, 43 
Congo, ii. 6 

Contarini, Ambrogio, i. 49 
Conti, Nicol5, i. 22 
Conway, Sir William Martin ii. 11 
Cooley, William Desborough. i. 4 
Cook, Captain James, i. 25 
Coote,Charles Henry, i. 72, 73 
Corney, Bolton, i. 19 
Corn ey, Bolton Glauvill, l.S.O. 

ii. 13 
Correa, Gaspar, i. 42 
Corte Real. Gaspar, i. 86 
Cortes, Hernando, i., 21, 40 ; ii. 23, 

24, 25 
Cosmas Indicopleustes, i. 98 
Covel, John, i. 87 
Crosse, Ralph, i. 56 
Crooke, William, ii. 19 
Cumberland, Earl of, i. 59 
Cuzco, i. 47 ; ii. 22 

Dalboquerque, Afonso. See Albu- 
querque. 

Dallam, Thomas, i. 87 

Dalrymple, Alexander, i. 25 ; ii. 14,15 

Dampier, William, i. 25 

Danish Arctic Expeditions, i. 96, 97 

Darien, Gulf of, i. 33 

Dati, Giuliano, i. 2, 43 

Daviia, Pedrarias. Sec Arias d'Avila. 

Davis, Edward, ii. 13 

Davis, John, i. 5, 59, 88, 89 

De Villiers, John Aliraham Jacob, 
ii. 11, 18, 26, 27 

Diaz, Juan, Clerigo, ii. 23 

Diaz del Castillo, Bernal, ii. 23, 24, 25 

Digges, Sir Dudley, i. 63 

Dominguez, Don Luis L., i. 81 

Donck, Adrian van der, i. 27 

Dorado, El, i. 3, 28 

Doughty, Thomas, i. 16 

Downton, Nicholas, i. 56 

Drake, Sir Francis, i. 4, 16 

Drake, Sir Francis, the Younger, i, 16 

Dryandri, Joh., i. 51 

Ducket, Jeffrey, i. 72, 73 

Dudley, Sir Robert, ii. 3 

Dutch Voyages, i. 13 ; ii. 11, 13, 18 

East India, ii. 19 

East India Company, i. 5, 19 



XXI 



East Indies. Sec India. 
Easter Inland, ii. 13 
Eannes, Gomes, de Zurani, i. 95, 100 
Egerton MSS., ii. 1:5 
Eden, Richard, i. 12 
Edwards, Arthur, i. 72, 73 
Egypt, i. 32 
El Dorado, i. 3, 28 
EUesmere, Earl of, i. 17 
Elvas, Gentleman of, i. 9 
Emeria, i. 3 

England, Circumnavigation of, i. 79 
Engronelanda, i. 50 
Enriquez de Guzman, Alonzo, i. 29 
Eslanda, i. 50 
Espinosa, Alimso de, ii. 21 
Estotilandai, i. 50 
Ethiopia. IScc Abyssinia. 
Europe, i. 10, 12, 13, 18, 20, 49, 54, 
58,64, 72, 73,79 ; ii. 9, 11, 17 

Ferguson, Donald William, ii. 9 
Fernandez de Quiros, Pedro de. Sec 

Quiros 
Figueroa, Christoval Suarez de. See 

Suarez de Figueroa. 
Fletcher, Francis, i. 16 
Fletcher, Giles, i. 20 
Florida, i. 7, 9 
Fort St. George, i. 74, 75, /8 
Foster, William, B.A., ii. 1, 2, 16 
Fotherby, Robert, i. 63 
Fox, Luke, i. 5, 88, 89 
Foxe, Luke. See Fox. 
Frislanda, i. 50 

Frobisher, Sir Martin, i. 5, 38, 88, 89 
Fryer, John, ii. 19 
Furnace, H.M.S., i. 11 

Gairdner, James, i. 79 

Galvao, Antonio, i. 30 

Gama, Christovao da, ii. 10 

Gama, Vasco da, i. 42, 99 

Gamboa, Pedro Sarmiento de. See 

Sarmiento de Gamboa. 
Garcia, Genaro, ii. 23, 24, 25 
Garcilasso de la Vega, el Inca, i. 24, 

41, 45 ; ii. 22 
Gastaldi, Jacopo, i. 12 
Gatonbe, John, i. 63 
Gayangos, Pascual de, i. 40 ; ii. 22 
Gerritsz., Hessel, i. 27, 54 ; ii. 11 
Gibbons, William, i. 5, 88, 89 
Gibraltar, Straits of, i. 79 
Globes, i. 79 

God's Pozver <(• Providence, i. 18 
Gonzalez de Clavijo, Ruy, i. 26; ii. 21 
Gonzalez y Haedo, Felipe, ii. 13 
Gosch. Christian Carl August, i. 96, 97 
Gray, Albert, K.C-, i. 76, 77, 80 



Great Mogul, ii.l, 2 

Greenland, i. 18, 50, 96, 97 

Grey, Charles, i. 49 

Grey, Edward, i. 84,85 

Grijalva, Juan de, ii. 23 

Grimstou, Edward. See Grimstone, 

Grimstone, Edward, i. 60, 61 

Guanches, ii. 21 

Guiana, i. 3 ; ii. 3 

Guinea, i. 95, 100; ii. 6 

Hackit, Thomas, i. 7 
Hakluyt, Richard : 

Divers Voyages, i. 7 

Galvano, i. 30 

Principall Navigations, i. 16, 20,. 
38, 59 ; Extra Ser. 1-12 

Terra Florida, i. 9 

Will of, i. 7 
Hall, James, i. 5, 88, 89, 96, 97 
Harleian MSS., i. 8 
Harris, C. A., ii. 26, 27 
Hasan Ibn Muhammad, al Wazzan, al 

Fasi, i. 92-94 
Havers, George, i. 84, 85 
Hawkins, Sir John, i. 1, 57 
Hawkins, Sir Richard, i. 1, 57 
Hawkins, William, i. 57 
Hawkridge, William, i. 88, 89 
Hedges, Sir William, i. 74, 75, 78 
Heidelberg MS., i. 58 
Herbei stein, Sigismund von, i. 10, 12: 
Hernandez de Biedma, Luis, i. 9 
Herrera, Antonio de, i. 24 ; ii. 22, 23 
Herve, Juan, ii. 13 
Honduras, i. 40 
Horsey, Sir Jerome, i. 20 
Houtman's Abrolhos, i. 25 
Howard, Eliot, ii. 12 
Hudson, Henry, i. 13, 27, 88 89 
Hudson's Bay, i. 11, 96, 97 
Hues, Robert, i. 79 
Hugli River, i. 78 ; ii. 12 

Icaria, i. 50 

Imams and Seyyids of 'Oman i. 44 
Incas, i. 41, 45, 47, 48 ; ii. 22 
Incas, Rites and Laws, i. 48 ; ii. 22 
Incas, Roval Commentaries, i. 41,. 

45 ; ii. 22 
India, i. 5, 22, 32, 38, 42, 53, 55, 56, 

69, 62, 70, 71, 74-78, 80, 84, 85 ; ii. 

1, 2, 9, 12, 16, 17 
India Office MSS., i. 5, 56, 66, 67 
Indian Language, Dictionarie of the, i. 6' 
Italy, ii. 9 



James I., i. 19 
James, Thomas, i. 5, 
Janes, John, i, 59 



i, 89 



Japan, i. 8, 39, 66, 67 ; ii. 5 
Java, i. 82,83 
Jeannin, P., i. 27 
Jeiikioson, Anthony, i. 72, 73 
Joannes, de Piano Carpino, ii. 4 ; 

Extra Ser. 13 
Jones, John Winter, i. 7, 22, 32 
Jordanus [Catalani], i. 31 
Jourdain, John, ii 16 
Jovius, Paulus, i. 12 
Juet, Robert, i. 27 

Keeling, William, i. 56 
Knight, John, i. 5, 56, 88, 89 

Lambrechtsen, i. 27 

Lancaster, Sir James, i. 56 

La Peyrere, Isaac de, i. 18 

La Plata, City, i. SH 

La Plata, River, i. 81 

Lefroy, Sir Jolm Henry, K.C.M.G., 

i. 65, 86 
Leguat, Frani^ois, i. 82, 83 
Le Maire, Jacob, ii. 18 
Lendas da India, i. 42 
Leo Africanus, i. 92-94 
Leone, Giovanni, i. 92-94 
Leupe, P. A., i. 25 
Levant, i. 87 

Le Verrier, Jean, i. 46 ; ii. 21 
Leza Gaspar Gonzalez de, i. 39 ; ii. 

14^ 15 
Linschoten, Jan Huyghen van, i. 70 71 

McCrindle, John Watson, i. 89 
Madras, i. 74, 75, 78 
Madrid MSS., i. 29 
Magellan, Ferdinand, i. 52 
Magellan, Straits of, i. 91 ; ii. 18 
Major, Richard Henry, i. 2, 6. 10, 12, 

14, 15, 17, 22, 25, 43, 46, 50 
Malay Archipelago, ii. 16, 18 
Malabar, i. 35 

Maldive Islands, i. 76, 77, 80 

Maluco Islands. See Molucca Islands. 

Manoa, i. 3 

Markham, Sir Albert Hastings, K.C.B., 
i. 59 

Markham. Sir Clements Robert, K.C.B., 
i. 24, 26, 28, 29, 33, 34, 41, 56, 57, 
60, 61, 63, 68, 79, 86, 90, 91 ; ii. 14 

15, 21, 22 
Martens, Friedrich, i. 18 
Maudslav, Alfred Percival, ii. 23, 24,26 
Mauritius, i. 82, 83 

Maynarde, Thomas, i. 4 

Mendafia de Neyra, Alvaro, i. 25, 39 ; 

ii. 7, 8, 14, 15 
Mendoza, Juan Gonzalez de, i. 14, 15 
Mexico, i. 23 ; ii. 23, 24 



Michon, Marie, Extra Ser., 12, 33 

Middleton, Christopher, i. 11 

Middleton, Sir Henry, i. 19, 56 

Mirahilm Descripta, i. 31 

Mogul, The Great, ii. 1, 2 

Molucca Islands, i. 19, 39, 52, 76, 77, 80 

Molyneux, Emery, i. 79 

Montezuma, i. 61 ; ii. 23, 24 

Morga, Antonio de, i. 39 ; ii. 14, 15 

Morgan, Henry, i, 59 

Morgan, Edward Delmar, i. 72. 7'-^, 

79, 83, 86 
Mundy, Peter, ii. 17 
Munk, Jens, i. 96, 97 
Minister, Sebastian, i. 12 
Muscovy Company, i. 7, 63 ; ii. 11 

Neumann, Karl Friedrich, i. 58 

New Hebrides, ii. 14, 15 

New Spain, ii. 23 

New World, i. 2, 43 

Nicaragua, i. 34 

Nicopolis, i. 58 

Nikitin, Athanasius, i. 22 

Nombre de Dios, i. 16 

Norsemen in America, i. 2, 50 

North-East Voyages, i. 13 

North-West Passage, i. 5, 11, 38, 56, 

88, 89, 96, 97 
Northern Seas, i. 50 
Nova Zembla, i. 13, 54 
Nunez Cabe9a de Vaca. Alvar, i. 81 

Ocampo, Baltasar de, ii. 22 
Olaondo, Alberto, ii. 13 
Olid, Cristoval de. ii. 23 
Oliver, Samuel Pasfield, i. 82, 83 
Omagua, i. 28 
'OmS,n, i. 44 

Ondegardo, Polo de, i. 48 ; ii. 22 
Orellana, Francisco de. i. 24 
Orleans, Pierre Joseph d', i. 17 
Oi'muz, Kings of, ii. 9 
Oviedo, Gabriel de. ii. 22 

Pachacamac, i. 47; ii. 22 

Pacific Ocean, i. 1, 34, 57 ; ii. 13, 18 

Paraguay, River, i. 81 

Parke, Robert, i. 14, 15 

Pellham, Edward, i. 18 

Pelsart, Francis, i. 25 

Pereira, Thomas, i. 17 

Persia, i. 32, 49, 72. 73 ; ii. 19 

Peru, i. 33, 34, 41, 45, 47, 60, 61, 68 ; 

ii. 22 
Peru, Chronicle of, i. 33, 68 
Philip, William, i. 13, 54 
Philippine Islands, i. 89 
Pigafetta, Antonio, i. 52 
Pitt Diamond, i. 78 



XXlll 



Pitt, Thomas, i. 74, 75, 78 

Pizarro. Francisco, i. 21, 47 ; ii. 22 

Pizarro, Gonzalo, i. 21, 24, 47 ; ii. 22 

Pizarro, Hernando, i. 47 ; ii. 22 

Pochahontas, i. 6 

Pool, Gerrit Thoniasz., i. 25 

Portugal, i. 64 ; ii. 10 

Porj-, John.i. 92-94 

Powhatan, i. 6 

Prado y Tovar, Don Diego de, 

ii. 14, 15 
Prestage, Edgar, i. 9.5, 100 
Prester John, i. 64 ; ii. 10 
Pricket Abacuk, i. 27 
Public Record Office MSS., i. 38 
Puerto Rico, i. 4 
Purchas, Samuel, i. 13, .''.6. 63 ; Extra 

Ser. 14-33 
Pyrard, Franjois, i. 76, 77, 80 

Quatremere, i. 22 

Quiros, Pedro Fernandez de, i. 25. 
39 ; ii. 14, 15 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, i. 3 

Raleigh, Walter, Professor, Extra 
Ser. 12 

Ramusio, Giovanni Battista, i. 49, 52 

Ravenstein, Ernest George, i. 99 ; ii. 6 

Rawlinson MSS., ii. 17 

Recueil de Voyages, i. 31 

Remon, Alonzo, ii. 23 

Ribault, John, i. 7 

Rockhill, William Woodville, ii. 4 

Rodriguez, Lsland, i. 82, 83 

Roe, Sir Thomas, ii. 1, 2 

Roggeveen, Jacob, ii. 13 

Roy, Eugene Armand, i. 49 

Rubruquis, Gulielraus de, ii. 4 ; Ex- 
tra Ser. 13 

Ruudall, Thomas, i. 5, 8 

Russe Commonwealth, i. 20 

Russia, i. 10, 12, 20, 72, 73 

Rye, William Brenchley, i. 9 

Salil-Ibn-Ruzaik, i. 44 

Samarcand, i. 26 

Sancho, Pedro, i. 47 ; ii. 22 

Santo-Stefano, Hieronimo di, i. 22 

Saris, John, i. 8 ; ii. 5 

Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro, i. 91 ; 

ii. 22 
Satow, Sir Ernest Mason. G.C.M.G., 

ii. 5 
Schiltberger, Johann, i. 58 
Schmidel, Ulrich, i. 81 
Schmidt, Ulrich. See Schmidel. 
Sch mburgk. Sir Robert Hermann, 

i. 3 
Schouten, Willem Cornelisz., ii. 18 



Scorj-, Sir Edmund, ii. 21 
Seaman's Secrets, i. 59 
Segersz., Jacob, ii. 11 
Sellman, Edward, i. 38 
Shakspere's "New Map," i. 59 
Sharpeigh, Alexander, i. 56 
Shaw, Norton, i. 23 
Siain, i. 39 
Simon, Pedro, i. 28 
Sinclair, William Frederic, ii. 9 
Sloane MSS.. i. 25, 65 ; ii. 16 
Smith, Capt. John, i. 65, 86 
Smith, Sir Thomas, i. 19, 63, 65 
Smyth, William Henry, i. 21 
Solomon Islands, ii. 7, 8, 14, 15 
Somers, Sir George, i. 65 
Soto, Ferdinando de, i. 9, 47 
Soulsby, Basil Harrington, ii. 10, 11, 

14, 15, 16, 18 
Sousa Tavares, Francisco de, i. 30 
South Sea . See Pacific Ocean. 
Spanish MSS., i. 29, 48 
Spanish Voyages, i. 25, 39 ; ii. 7, 8, 

13, 14, 15 
Speilbergen, Joris van, ii. 18 
Spitsbergen, i. 13, 18, 54 ; ii. 11. 
Staden, Johann von, i. 51 
Stanley of Alderley, Lord, i. 35, 39, 

42, 52, 64 
Staunton, Sir George Thomas, Bart., 

i. 14,15 
Stere, William, i. 13 
Storm van 's Gravesande, ii. 26, 27 
Strachey, William, i. 6 
Suarez de Figueroa. Christoval, i. 57 ; 

ii. 14, 15 
Summer Islands, i. 65, 86 
Syria, i. 32 

Tabasco, ii. 23 

Tahiti, ii. 13 

Tamerlane, The Great, i. 26 

Tana (Azov), i. 49 

Tapia, Andres de, ii. 23 

Tartary, i. 17 ; ii. 1, 2, 4 

Tavares, Francisco de Sousa. See 

Sousa Tavares, F. de. 
Teixeira, Pedro, ii. 9 
Telfer. John Buchan, i. 58 
Temple, Sir Richard Carnac, Bart., 

ii. 12, 17 
Tenerife, ii. 21 
Terra Australis, i. 25 
Terra Florida, i. 9 
Thomas, William, i. 49 
Thompson. Sir Edward Mauude, 

K.C.B.,i. 66,67 
Thomson, Basil Home, ii. 7, 8 
Tliorne, Robert, i. 7 
Tiele, Pieter Anton, i. 70, 71 



xxn^ 



Tierra Firme, i. 2S, 34, 47 
Timour, Great Khau, i. 26 
Toledo, Franci.sco cle. Viceroy of Peru, 

ii. 22 
Tootal, Albert, i. 51 
Topographia Christiana, i. 98 
Torquem&fla, Fray Juan de, ii. 14, 15 
Torres, Luis Vaez de, i. 25, 39 ; ii. 14, 

15 
Toscanelli, Paolo, i. 86 
Towerson, Gabriel, i. 19 
Tractatus de Glohis, i. 79 
Transylvaiius, ]Maximilianus, i. 52 
Tupac Amaru, //ica, ii. 22 
Turbervile, George i. 10 
Turkey Merchants, i. 87 

Ursua, Pedro de, i. 28, 47 

Yalle, Pietro della, i. 84, 85 

Vartbema, Ludovico di, i. 19, 32 

Vaux, William Sandys AYriglit, i, 16 

Vaz, Lopez, i. 16 

Veer, Gerrit de, i. 13, 54 

Velasquez, Diego, ii. 23 

Vera Cruz, ii. 23 

Verarzauus, John, i. 7, 27 

Verbiest, Ferdinand, i. 17 

Vespucci, Amerigo, i. 90 

Vilcapampa, ii. 22 

Virginia Britannia, i. 6 

Vivero y Velasco, Rodrigo de i. 8 



Vlamingh, ^Yillem de, i. 25 
Volkersen, Samuel, i. 25 

Warner, George Frederic, Litt.D. 

ii. 3 
Weigates, Straits of, i. 13, 54 
West Indies, i. 4, 23 ; ii. 3, 23 
Weymouth, George, i. 5, 88,' 89 
White, Adam, i. 18 
Whiteway, Richard Stephen, ii.flO 
Wielhorsky, i. 22 
William of Rubruck. See Rubruquis, 

Gulielmus de 
Wilmere, Alice, i. 23 
Winter, John, i. 16 
Witsen, Nicolaas, i. 17, 25 
Wolstenholme, Sir John, i. 63, 88, 89 
Worlde's Hydrographical Description,^ 

i. 59 
Wright, Edward, i. 59 

Xeres, Francisco de, i. 47 ; ii. 22 

Yncas. See Incas. 
Yucatan, ii. 23 

Yule, Sir Henry, K.C.S.L, i. 31, 36, 
37, 74, 75, 78 ; ii. 19, 20 

Zeno, Antonio, i. 50 
Zeno, Caterino, i. 49 
Zeno, Nicolo. i. 50 
Zychmau, i. 51 



XXV 



LAWS OF THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. 



I. The object of this Society shall be to print, for distribution among the 
members, rare and valuable Voyages, Travels, Naval Expeditions, and other 
geographical records. 

II. The Annual Subscription shall be One and a-half Guinea (for America, 
eight dollars, U.S. currency), payable in advance on the ist January. 

III. Each member of the Society, having paid his Subscription, shall be 
entitled to a copy of every work produced by the Society, and to vote at the 
general meetings within the period subscribed for ; and if he do not signify, 
before the close of the year, his wish to resign, he shall be considered as a member 
for the succeeding year. 

IV. The management of the Society's affairs shall be vested in a Council 
consisting of twenty-two members, viz., a President, three Vice-Presidents, a 
Treasurer, a Secretary, and si-xteen ordinary members, to be elected annually ; 
but vacancies occurring between the general meetings shall be filled up by the 
Council. 

V. A General Meeting of the Subscribers shall be held annually. The 
Secretary's Report on the condition and proceedings of the Society shall be 
then read, and the meeting shall proceed to elect the Council for the ensuing year. 

VI. At each Annual Election, three of the old Council shall retire. 

VII. The Council shall meet when necessary for the dispatch of business, three 
forming a quorum, including the Secretary; the Chairman having a casting vote. 

VIII. Gentlemen preparing and editing works for the Society, shall receive 
twenty-five copies of such works respectively. 



LIST OF MEMBERS.— 1911.* 



Members are requested to inform the Hon. Secretary of any errors or 
alterations in this List. 



1899 Aberdare, The Eight Hon. Lord, 83, Eaton Square, S. W. 

1S47 Aberdeen University Library, Aberdeen. 

1895 Adelaide Public Library, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia. 

1847 Admiralty, The, Whitehall, S.W. [2 copies.] 

1847 Advocates' Library, 11, Parliament Square, Edinburgh. 

1899 Alexander, William Lindsay, Esq., Piukieburn, Musselburgh, N.B. 

1847 AH Souls College, Oxford. 

1847 American Geographical Society, 11, West 81st Street, New York City, U.S.A. 

1901 Andrews, Commander Francis Arthur Lavington, R.N. , H.M.S. London, 

Channel Fleet. 

1906 Andrews, Michael C, Esq., 17, University Square, Belfast. 

1847 Antiquaries, The Society of, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W. 

1909 Armstrong, Capt. H. G. B., E.M., Royal Marine Barracks, Plymouth. 

1909 Armstrong, Capt. B. H. 0., R.E., Natal. 

1847 Army and Navy Club, 36, Pall Mall, S.W. 

1904 Arnold, Dr. Clarence R., 4, 5, 6, First National Bank Building, Colorado 

Springs, Colorado, U.S.A. 

1909 Ascoli, W. S., Esq., Brooklyn Lodge, Withington, Manchester. 

1847 Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, S.W. 



1899 Baer, Joseph & Co., Messrs., Hochstrasse 6, Frankfort-on-Main, Germany. 
1847 Bagram, John Ernest, Esq., 10, Old Post Office Street, Calcutta. 

1909 Baldwin, Stanlej^ Esq., M.P., Astley Hall, nr. Stourport. 
1899 Ball, John B., Esq., Ashburton Cottage, Putney Heath, S.W. 
189.3 Barclay, Hugh Gurney, Esq., Colney Hall, Norv^ich. 

1899 Basset, M. Rene, Directeur de I'Ecole Superieure des Lettres d' Alger, Villa 

Louise, rue Denfert Rochereau, Algiers. 
1894 Baxter, James Phinney, Esq., 61, Deeriug Street, Portland, Maine, U.S.A. 
1896 Beaumont, Admiral Sir Lewis Anthony, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., St. Georges, 

Hurstpierpoint, Sussex. 
1904 Beetem, Charles Gilbert, Esq., 110, South Hanover Street, Carlisle, Pa., U.S.A. 
1899 Belfast Library and Society for Promoting Knowledge, Donegall Square 

North, Belfast. 
1896 Belhaven and Stenton, Col. The Right Hon. the Lord, R.E., 41, Lennox 

Gardens, S.W. {Vice-President). 
1847 Berlin Geographical Society (Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde), Wilhelmstrasse 23, 

Berlin, S.W., 48. 
1847 Berlin, the Royal Library of, Opernplatz, Berlin, W. 
1847 Berlin University, Geographical Institute of, Georgenstrasse 34-36, Berlin 

N.W. 7. 
1875 Birch, Dr. Walter de Gray, Belmont, Nascot Road, Watford. 
1899 Birmingham Central PYee Library, Ratclift Place, Birmingham. 
1847 Birmingham Old Library, The, Margaret Street, Birmingham. 

1910 Birmingham University Library. 



* Sent to 2^ress, December 1st, 1910. 



xxvu 

1899 Board of Educatiou, The Keeper, Science Library, Science Museum, South 

Kensington, S.W. 

1847 Bodleian Librarj^, Oxford. 

1894 Bonaparte, H. H. Prince Roland Napoleon, Avenue d'Jeua 10, Paris. 

1847 Boston Athenaeum Library, lOJ, Beacon Street, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 

1847 Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 

1899 Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, U.S.A. 

1894 Bower, Major - General Hamilton, c/o Messrs. Cox and Co., 16, Charing 

Cross. 

1899 Bowes & Bowes, Messrs., 1, Trinity Street, Cambridge. 

1S96 Bowring, Thomas B., Esq.. 7, Palace Gate, Kensington, W. 

191)6 Brereton, The Rev. William, The Rectory, Steeple Giddiiig, Peterboro'. 

1894 Brewster, Charles 0., Esq., 133 East 65th Street, New York City, U.S.A. 

1S93 Brighton Public Library, Royal Pavilion, Church Street, Brighton. 

1890 British Guiana Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society, Georgetown, 

Demerara. 

LS47 British Museum, Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities. 

1847 British Museum, Department of Printed Books. 

1896 Brock, Henry G., Esq., 161-2, Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A. 

]y09 Brooke, John Arthur, Esq., J.P., Feuay Hall, Huddersfleld. 

1899 Brookline Public Library, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 

1899 Brooklyn Mercantile Library, 197, Montague Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A. 

1899 Brown, Arthur William Whateley, Esq., 62, Carlisle Mansions, Carlisle Place, 

Victoria Street, S.W. 

1898 Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A., P.O. Box 109. 
1903 Buckle, Admiral Claude Edward, The Red House, Raithby, Spilsby. 
1896 Buda-Pesth, The Geographical Institute of the University of, Hungary. _ 
1910 Buenos Aires, Biblioteca Nacional (c/o E. Terquem, 19, Rue Scribe, Paris). 

1899 Bunting, William L., Esq., M.A., Royal Naval College, Osborne, Isle of Wight. 
1899 Burdekin, Benjamin Thomas, Esq., The Terrace, Eyam, Sheffield. 

1894 Burgess, James, Esq., CLE., LL.D., 22, Seton Place, Edinburgh. 

1890 Burns, Capt. John William, Leesthorpe Hall, Melton Mowbray. 



1903 California, University of, Berkeley, Cal., U.S.A. 

1899 Cambray & Co., Messrs. R., 6, Hastings Street, Calcutta. 

1847 Cambridge University Library, Cambridge. 

1847 Canada. The Parliament Library, Ottawa. 

1896 Cardiff Public Library, Trinity Street, Cardiff. 

1847 Carlisle, The Rt. Hon. the Earl of, Naworth Castle, Bampton, Cumberland. 

1847 Carlton Club Library, 94, Pall Mall, S.W. 

1899 Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.A. 

1901 Cator, Ralph Bertie Peter, Esq., (Judge of H.B.M. Supreme Court, Con- 

stantinoi^le), Wateringbury, Kent. 

1910 Cattarns, Richard, Esq., 4. Albert Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W. 

1894 Chamberlain, Right Hon. Joseph, M.P., 40, Princes Gardens, S.W. 

1899 Chambers, Captain Bertram Mordaunt, R.N., H.M.S., " Repulse," Devonport. 

1910 Chapelot et Cie., 30, Rue et Passage Dauphine, Paris. 

1847 Chetham's Library, Hunt's Bank, Manchester. 

1910 Chicago, Geographical Society of, P.O. Box 223, Chicago. 

1899 Chicago Public Library. Chicago, 111., U.S.A. 

1899 Chicago University Library, Chicago, 111., U.S.A. 

1896 Christ Church, Oxford. 

1847 Christiania University Library, Christiania, Norway. 

1899 Cincinnati Public Library, Ohio, U.S.A. 

1907 Clark, Arthur H., Esq., Caxton Buildings, Cleveland, Ohio. 



XXVlll 

1903 Claj', John, Esq., Uuiversity Press and Burrell's Corner, Cambridge. 

1909 Close, A. M., Esq. 

1908 Close, Lieut.-Col. Charles Frederick, C.M.G., R.E., War Office, White- 
hall, S.W. 

1895 Colgau, Nathaniel, Esq., 15, Breffin Terrace, Sandycove, co. Dublin. 
1847 Colonial Office, The, Downing Street, S.W. 

1899 Columbia University, Library of, New York, U.S.A. 

1896 Conway, Sir William Martin, Allington Castle, Maidstone, Kent. 
1903 Cooke, William Charles, Esq., Vailima, Bishopstown, Cork. 

1847 Copenhagen Royal Library (Det Store KougeliKe Bibliothek), Copenhagen. 

1894 Cora, Professor Guido, M.A., Via Nazionale, 181, Home. 

1847 Cornell University, Ithaca. New York, U.S.A. 

1903 Corney, Bolton Glanvill, Esq., I.S.O., 19, Abingdon Court, Ken.sington, W. 
1893 Cow, John, Esq., Elfinsward, Hay ward's Heath Sussex. 

1902 Cox, Alexander G. , Esq., Imperial Railways of North China, Tientsin. 

1908 Crewdson, W., Esq., J. P., Southside, St. Leonards-on-Sea. 

1904 Croydon Public Libraries, Central Library, Town Hall, Croydon. 

1893 Curzon of Kedleston, The Right Hon. Lord, G.M.S.L, G.M.I.E., 1, Carlton 

House Terrace, S.W. 

1911 Cutting, Lady Sybil, c/o the Earl of Desart, 2, Rutland Gardens, S.W. 



1847 Dalton, Rev. Canon John Neale, C.M.G., C.V.O., 4, The Cloisters. Windsor. 

1899 Dampier, Gerald Robert, Esq., I.C.S., Dehra Dun, N.W.P., India. 

1899 Danish Royal Naval Library (Det Kongelige Danske S</>kaart Archiv), Copen- 
hagen. 

1908 Darwin, Major Leonard, late R.E., President R.G.S., 12, Egerton Place, S. W. 

1908 Davis, N. de Lancey, Esq., Toynbee Hall, 28, Commercial Street, E. 

1890 Davis, Hon. Nicholas Darnell, C.M.G., Royal Colonial Institute, Northumber- 
land Avenue, W.C. 

1894 De Bertodano, Baldomero Hyacinth, Esq., Cowbridge House, Malme.sbury, 
Wilts. 

1899 Detroit Public Library, Michigan, U.S.A. 

1893 Dijon Uuiversity Library, Rue Monge, Dijon, Cote d'Or, France. 

1899 Dresden Geographical Society (Verein fiir Erdkunde), Kleine Briidergasse 
21 1 1, Dresden. 

1902 Dublin, Trinity College Library. 

1847 Ducie, The Right Hon. the Earl of, F.R.S., Tortworth Court, Falfield. 

1910 Dunn, J. H., Esq., Coombe Cottage, Kingston Hill, S.W. 



1903 Eames, James Bromley, Esq., M.A.,B.C.L,, 1 0, King's Bench Walk, Temple, E.C. 

1899 Ecole Fran^aise d'Extreme Orient, Saigon, Indo-Chine Franyaise. 

1905 Edge-Partington, James, Esq., c/o The Keeper of the Department of British 

and Mediceval Antic[uities, British Museum, W.C. 

1892 Edinburgh Public Library, George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh. 

1847 Edinburgh University LilDrary, Edinburgh. 

1847 Edwards, Francis, Esq., 83, High Street, Marylebone, W. 

1906 Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Md., U.S.A. 



191U Fairorother, Colouel W. T., C.B., Indian Army, Bareilly, N.P., India. 

1899 Fellowes Athenseum, 46, Millmont Street, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 

1899 Ferguson, David, Esq.. M.I.M.E., 140, Hyndland Drive, Kelvinside, Glasgow. 

1894 Fisher, Arthur, Esq., The Mazry, Tiverton, Devon. 

1896 Fitzgerald, Captain Edward Arthur, 5th Dragoon Guards. 

1847 Ford, John Walker, Esq., D.L., EnBeld Old Park, Winchmore Hill, N. 

1847 Foreign Office of Germany (AuswJirtiges Amt), Wilhehustrasse, Berlin, W. 

1893 Forrest, George William, Esq., CLE., Rose Bank, liiley, Oxford. 

1902 Foster, F. Apthorp, Esq., 24, Milk Street, Boston, Mass., U.S A. 

1893 Foster, William, Esq., India Office, S.W. 

1910 Eraser, Lovat, Esq., The White House, Slough. 



1847 George, Charles William, Esq., 51, Hampton Road, Bristol. 

1901 Gill, William Harrison, Esq., Marunouchi, Tokyo (c/o Messrs. Nichols, 

Peninsular House, Monument Street, E.G.). 
1847 Gladstone Library, National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, S.W. 
1847 Glasgow University Librarj^, Glasgow. 
1880 Godman, Frederick Du Cane, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S., 45, Pont Street, S.W. 

1905 Goldie, The Right. Hon. Sir George Taubmau, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., Naval & 

Military Club, Piccadilly, W. 

1906 Goodrich, Professor Joseph K., Imperial Government College, Kyoto, Japan. 

1897 Gosch, Christian Carl August, Esq., 21, Stanhope Gardens, S.W. 
1847 Gottingen University Library, Gottiugen, Germany. 

1877 Gray, Albert, Esq., K.C. {President), Catherine Lodge, Trafalgar Square, 

Chelsea, S.W. 
1894 Gray, Matthew Hamilton, Esq., Lessness Park, Abbey Wood, Kent. 
1903 Greenlee, William B., Esq., 130 Kene.saw Terrace, Chicago, III, U.S.A. 

1898 Greever, C. 0., Esq., 1345, East Ninth Street. Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A. 

1899 Griffiths, John G., Esq., 4, Hyde Park Gardens, W. 
1899 Grosvenor Library, Buffalo, N.Y., U.S.A. 

1899 Gruzeviski, C. L., Essq., 424, West Houston Street, San Antonio, Texas, 

U.S.A. 
1847 Guildhall Library, E.G. 
1887 Guillemard, Francis Henry Hill, Esq., M.A., M.D., The Old Mill House, 

Trumpington, Cambridge. 



1847 Hamburg Commerz-Bibliothek, Hamburg, Germany. 

1901 Hammersmith Public Libraries, Carnegie (Central) Library, Hammersmith, W. 

1898 Hanuen, The Hon. Henry Arthur, The Hall, West Farleigh, Kent. 
1906 Harrison, Carter H. , Esq. (c/o Messrs. Stevens and Browm). 

1905 Harrison, William P., Esq., 192, West Division Street, Chicago, 111., U.S.A. 

1847 Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.. U.S.A. 

1899 Harvie-Browu, John Alexander, Esq., Duuipace, Larbert, Stii-lingshire. 

1899 Haswell, George Handel, Esq., Ashleigh, Hamstead Road, Handsworth, 

Birmingham. 

1887 Heawood, Edward, Esq., M.A., Church Hill, Merstham, Surrey, and 1, Savile 

Row, W. {Treasurer). 

1899 Heidelberg University Library, Heidelberg (Koestersche Buchhandlung). 

1904 Henderson, George, Esq., Tower House, The Park, Harrow. 

1903 Henderson, Turner, Esq., Studley Priory, Oxford. 



XXX 

1890 Hervey, Dudley Francis Amelius, Esq., C.M.G., Westfields, Aldeburgh, 

Suffolk. 
1899 Hiersemann, Hen- Karl Wilhelm, Konigsstrasse, 3, Leipzig. 
1902 Hippisley, Alfred Edward, Esq., I.M. Customs, Shanghai, China. 

1893 Hobhouse. Charles Edward Henry, Esq., M.P., The Ridge, Corsham, Wilts. 
1904 Holdich, Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford, K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E.. C.B., R.E., 

41, Courtfield Road, S.W. 
1899 Hoover, Herbert Clarke, Esq., HorntonHonse, Hornton Street, Kensington, W. 
1SS7 Horner, Sir John Francis Fortescue, K.C.V.O., Mells Park, Frome, Somerset. 
1890 Hoyt Public Library, East Saginaw, Mich., U.S.A. 
1909 Hubbard, H. M., Esq., H6, The Albany, Piccadilly, W. 
1899 Hiigel, Baron Anatole A. A. von. Curator, Museum of Archieology and 

Ethnology, Cambridge. 

1894 Hull Public Libraries, Baker Street, Hull. 



1899 Im Thurn, H. E. Sir Everard Ferdinand, K.C.M.G., C.B., Government House, 

Suva, Fiji, and 1, East India Avenue, E.C. 
1847 India Office. Downing Street, S.W. [20 COPIES.] 
1899 Ingle, William Bruncker, Esq., 4, Orchard Road, Blackheath, S.E. 
1892 Inner Temple, Hon. Society of the. Temple, E.C. 
1899 Ireland, Prof. Alleyne, St. Botolph Club, 2, Newbury Street, Bostor, 

Mass.. U.S.A. 
190.3 Irvine, William, Esq., HoUiscroft, 49, Castelnau Barnes, S.W. 



1899 Jackson, Stewart Douglas, Esq., 61, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow. 

1898 James, Arthur Curtiss, Esq., 92 Park Avenue, New York City, U.S.A. 
1896 James, W^alter B., Esq., M.D., 17, West 54th Street, New York City, U.S.A. 
1907 Johannesburg Public Library, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

1847 John Carter Brown Library, 357, Benefit Street, Providence, Rhode Island, 

U.S.A. 

1847 John Rylands Library, Dean.sgate, Manchester. 

1847 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., U.S.A. 

1899 Johnson, S. T., Esq., 48, Victoria Grove, Bridport. 
1899 Johnson, W. Morton, Esq., Woodleigh, Altrincham. 
1910 Jones, L. C, Esq., M.D., Maiden, Mass., U.S.A. 



1903 Kansas University Library, Lawrence, Kans., U.S.A. 

1887 Keltie, John Scott, Esq., LL.D., Secretary R.G.S., 1, Savile Row, Burlington 

Gai'dens, W. 

1909 Kesteven, C. H.. Esq., 2, Hungerford Street, Calcutta. 

1899 Kiel, Royal University of, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. 

1899 Kimberley Public Library, Kimberley, Cape Colony. 

1907 Kindberg, Herrn Captain J. P., Goteborg, Sweden. 

1898 Kinder, Claude William, Esq., C.M.G., Kelvin, Avondale Road, Fleet, Hants. 

1890 King's Inns, The Hon. Society of the, Henrietta Street, Dublin. 



XXXI 

1899 Kitching, John, Esq., Oaklands, Queen's Road, Kingston Hill, S.W. 
1899 Kliucksieck, M. Charles, 11, Rue de Lille, Paris. 

1910 Kouinklijk lustituut voor de Taal Laud en Volkenkunde van Nederlaadsch 
Indie. The Hague. 



1899 Langton, J. J. P., Esq., 802, Spruce Street, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A. 

1899 Larchmont Yacht Club, Larchmont, N.Y., U.S.A. 

1899 Leeds Library, 18, Commercial Street, Leeds. 

1899 Lehigh University, South Bethlehem, Pa., U.S.A. 

1893 Leijjzig, Library of the University of Leipzig. 

1906 Le Mair, Den Heer Jacob Willebeek, Eendrachtsvveg, Rotterdam. 

1899 Levy, Judah, Esq., 17, Greville Place, N.W. 

1905 Lincoln, Arthur, Esq., 7, Nassau Street, New York City, U.S.A. 

1899 Lindsay-Smith, Fred. Ales., Esq., J.P., IS, Sussex Place. Regent's Park. 

1847 Liverpool Free Public Library, William Brown Street, Liverpool. 

1896 Liverpool Geographical Society, 14, Hargreaves Buildings, Chapel Street, 

Jjiverpool. 

1899 Liverpool, University of Liverpool. 

1899 Loescher, Messrs. J.,aud Co., Corso Umberto 1°, 307, Rome. 

1899 Logan, William, Esq., Heatheryhaugh, Moffat, Damfriesshire. 

1847 London Institution, 11, Finsbury Circus, E.C. 

1847 Loudon Library, 12, St. James's Square, S.W. 

1895 Long Island Historical Society, Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.A. 

1899 Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, Cal, U.S.A. 

1899 Lowrey, Joseph, Esq., The Hermitage, Loughtou, Essex. 

1880 Lucas, Sir Charles Prestwood, K.C.B., Colonial Office, Downing Street, S.W. 

1895 Lucas, Frederic Wm., Esq., 21, Surrey Street, Strand, W.C. 

1898 Lydenberg, H. M.. Esq., New York Public Library, 40, Lafayette Place, New 

York City, U.S.A. 

1880 Lyons University Librarj^ Lyon, France. 

1899 Lyttleton-Aimesley, Lieut. -General Sir Arthur Lyttelton, K.C.V.O., Temple- 

mere, Oatlands Park, Weybridge. 



1910 McCulloch, H. A., Esq., Arequipa, Peru. 

1910 MacDonald, H. E. The Right Hon. Sir Claude M., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., 

K.C.B., British Embassy, Tokio, Japan. 

1899 Macrae, Charles Colin, Esq., 93, Onslow Gardens, S.W, 

1908 Maggs Brothers, Messrs., 109, Strand, W.C. 

1904 Malvern Public Libi-ary, Graham Road, Great Malvern. 

1 847 Manchester Public Free Libraries, King Street, Manchester. 

1899 Manierre, George, Esq., 135, Adams Street, Chicago, 111, U.S.A. 

1880 Markham, Admiral Sir Albert Hastings, K.C.B., 6, Marble Arch, W. 

1852 Markham, Sir Clements Robert, K.C.B., F.R.S., 21, Eccleston Square, S.W. 

( Vice-President). 

1892 Marquand, Henry, Esq., \Miitegates Farm, Bedford, New York, U.S.A. 

1905 Marsden, T. LL, Esq., Prestbury, near Macclesfield. 

1899 Martelli, Ernest Wynne, Esq., 4, New Square, Lincoln's Inn, W.C. 

1847 Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154, Boylston Street, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 

1899 Massie, Major Roger Henry, R.A., Rangoon. 

1905 Maudslay, Alfred Percival, Esq., 32, Montpelier Square, Knightsbridge, S.W. 



XXXll 

1899 McClurg, Messrs. A. C, & Co.. 215-221, Wabash Avenue, Chicago, 111., U.S.A. 

1896 McKay, J. Albert, Esq. 421, Wood Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.A. 

1901 Merriinan, J. A., Esq., Standard Bank of South Africa, Durban. 
1893 Michigan, University of, Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.A. 

1899 Middletowu, Conn., Wesleyan University Library, U.S.A. 

1904 Mikkelsen, Michael A., Esq., 610, South Fifth Avenue, Mt. Vernon, New York. 

1S47 Mills, Colonel Dudley Acland, R.E., Athenfeum Club, Pall Mall, S.W. 

1896 Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. 

189-5 Minneapolis Atheuteum, Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A. 

1899 Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. 

1899 Mitchell Library, 21, Miller Street, Glasgow. 

1898 Mitchell, Alfred, Esq., New London. Conn., U.S.A. 

1899 Mitchell, Wm., Esq., c/o Union Bank of Scotland, Aberdeen. 

1902 Mombasa Club, Mombasa, East Africa. 

1899 Monson, The Pdght Hon. Lord, C.V.O., Burton Hall, Lincoln. 

1901 Moreno, Dr. Francisco J., La Plata Museum, La Plata, Argentine Republic. 

1893 Morris, Henry Cecil Low, Esq., M.D., Gothic Cottage, Bognor, Sussex. 

1896 Morris, Mowbray, Esq., 59a, Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, W. 

1899 Morrison, George Ernest, Esq., M.D., Times Correspondent, c/o H.B.M. 

Legation, Peking. 

1899 Morrisson, James W., Esq., 200-206, Randolph Street, Chicago, 111,, U.S.A. 

1906 Morse, Chas. J., Esq., 1825, Asbury Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A. 

il895 Moxon, Alfred Edward, Esq., c/o Mrs. Gough, The Lodge, Souldern, near 

Banbury. 

1899 Mukhopadhyay, The Hon. Dr. Asutosh, M.A., LL.D., 77, Russa Road North, 

Bhowanipore, Calcutta. 

1847 Munich Royal Library (Kgl. Hof u. Staats-Bibliothek), Munich, Germaay. 

1901 Murray, Hon. Charles Gideon, Bachelor's Club, Piccadilly, W. 



1899 Nathan, Lt.-Col. Sir Matthew, K.C.M.G., R.E., 36, St. George's Court, 

Gloucester Road, S.W. 

1894 Naval and Military Club, 94, Piccadilly, W. 

1909 Nebraska University Library, Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A. 

1880 Netherlands, Royal Geographical Society of the (Koninklijk Nederlandsch 

Aardrijkskuudig Geuootschap), Singel 421, Amsterdam. 

1899 Netheiiands, Royal Library of the. The Hague. 

1847 Newberry Library, The, Chicago, 111., U.S.A. 

1847 Newcastle-upon-Tyne Literary and Philosophical Society, Westgate Road, 

Newcastle on-Tyne. 

1899 Newcastle-upou-Tj'ne Public Library, New Bridge Street, Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

1894 New Loudon Public Library, Conn., U.S.A. 

1899 New South Wales, Public Library of, Sydney, N.S.W. 

1899 New York Athletic Club, Central Park, South, New York City, U.S.A. 

1895 New York Public Library, 40, Lafayette Place, New York City, U.S.A. 
1847 New York State Library, Albany, New York, U.S.A. 

1894 New York Yacht Club. 67, Madison Avenue, New York City, U.S.A. 

1897 New Zealand, The High CoTnmissioner for, 13, Victoria Street, S.W. 

1905 Nichols, George L., Esq., 66 East 56th Street, New York City, U.S.A. 

1896 North Adams Public Library. Massachusetts, U.S.A. 

1893 Northcliffe, The Right Hon. Lord, Elmwood, St. Peter's, Thanet. 

1899 Nottingham Public Libraiy, Sherwood Street, Nottingham. 



1898 Omaha Public Library, 19th and Harney Streets, Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A. 
1890 Oriental Club, 18, Hanover Square, W 



xxxiu 



1902 Otani, Kozui, Esq., Nishi Honganji, Horikawa, Kyoto, Japan. 
1899 Oxford and Cambridge Club, 71, Pall Mall, S.\Y. 
1847 Oxford Union Society, Oxford. 



1899 Palmella, Hi.s Grace the Duke of, Lisbon. 

1847 Pari.?, Bibliotheque Nationale, Rue de Richelieu, Paris. 

1847 Paris, Institut de France, Quai de Conti 23, Paris. 

1899 Parlett, Harold George, Esq., H.B.M. Consulate, Dairen, Japan. 

1880 Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md., U.S.A. 

1908 Pearson, Dr. F. S., Coombe House, Kingston Hill, S.W. 

1847 Peckover of Wisbech, The Right Hon. Lord, Bank House, Wisbech ( Vice- 

Presidcnt). 

1896 Peech, W. H., Esq., St. Stephen's Club, Westminster, S.W. 

1893 Peek, Sir Wilfred, Bart., c/o Mr. Grover, Rousdon, Lyme Regis. 
1904 Peirce, Harold, Esq., 222, Drexel Building, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.A. 
1899 Peixoto, Dr. J. Rodrigues, 8, Rue Almte. Comandar^, Rio de Janeiro. 
1899 Pequot Library, Southport, Conn., U.S.A. 

1880 Petherick, Edward Augustus, Esq., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 

1895 Philadelphia Free Library, Pa., U.S.A. 

1899 Philadelphia, Library Company of, N.W. corner Juniper & Locust Streets, 
Philadelphia. Pa., U.S.A. 

1899 Philadelphia, Union League Club, 8, Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pa.. U.S.A. 
1890 Philadelphia, University Club, 1510 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. Pa., U.S.A. 
1910 Pierce, H. S., Esq., New York (c/o Suckling & Co., 13, Garrick Street, W.C.) 

1900 Plymouth, Officers' Libi'ary, Roj'al Marine Barracks. 

1899 Plymouth Proprietary and Cottonian Library, Cornwall Street, Plymouth. 

1847 Poor, Henry William, Esq., 1, Lexington Avenue, New York City, U.S.A. 

1899 Portico Library, 57, Mosley Street, Manchester. 

1904 Pratt, John Thomas, Esq., H.B.M. Consulate General, Tientsin, China. 

1894 Pretoria Government Library, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. 



1894 Quaritch, Bernard Alfred, Esq., 11, Grafton Street, New Bond Street, W 
(12 copies). 



1890 Raffles Museum and Library, Singapore. 

1890 Ravenstein, Ernest George, Esq., 2, York Mansions, Battersea Park, S.W. 
1910 Reeves, E. A., Esq., ^lap-Curator, R.G.S., Ridgecroft, Ridgeway Rd., Redhill. 
1847 Reform Club, 104, Pall Mall, S.W. 

1899 Reggio, Andrd C, Esq., 43, Tremont Street, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 
1895 Rhodes, Josiah, Esq., The Elms, Lytham, Lancashire. 

1902 Rice, A. Hamilton. Esq., M.D., 389, Beacon Street, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 
1887 Richards, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick William, G.C.B., D.C.L., 
34, Hurlingham Court, S.W. 

C 



XXXIV 

1907 Ricketts, D. P., Esq., Imperial Chinese Railways, Tientsin, China. 
1882 Riggs, E. F., Esq., 1311, Mass. Avenue, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 
1899 Rockhill. H.E. the Hon. William Woodville, United States Ambassador, 

St. Petersburg, Russia. 
1899 Rodd, H.E. The Right Hon. Sir James Rennell, G.C.V.O., K.C.M.G., C.B., 

British Embassy, Rome. 

1898 Rohrscheid and Ebbecke, Herrn, Am Hof, 28, Bonn, Germany. 
1893 Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich. 

1847 Royal Colonial Institute, Northumberland Avenue, W.C. 

1896 Royal Cruising Club, 40, Chancery Lane, W.C. 
1847 Royal Engineers' Institute, Chatham. 

1847 Royal Geographical Society, 1, Savile Row, Burlington Gardens, W. 

1890 Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Synod Hall, Castle Terrace, Edinburgh. 

1897 Royal Societies Club, 63, St. James's Street, S.W. 
1847 Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall, S.W. 

1899 Ruuciman, The Right Hon. AValter, M.R, Doxford, Chathill, Northumberland. 
1904 Ruxton, Captain Upton Fitz Herbert, Worcestershire Regiment, The Residency, 

Sokoto, Northern Nigeria. 

1900 Ryley, John Horton, Esq. , Primrose Lodge, Little Maplestead, Halstead, Essex. 



1899 St. Andrews University, St. Andrews. 

1899 St. Deiniol's Library, Hawarden. 

1893 St. John's, New Brunswick, Free Public Libi\ary. 
1890 St. Louis Mercantile Library, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A. 

1899 St. Martin's-in-the-FieldsFree Public Library, 115, St. Martin's Lane, W.C. 

1847 St. Petersburg University Library, St. Petersburg. 

1894 St. Wladimir University, Kiew, Russia. 

1899 San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, Cal., U.S.A. 

1899 Sclater, Dr. William Lutley, Odiham Priory, Winchfield. 

1899 Seattle Public Library, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. 

1906 Seligmann, Charles Gabriel, Esq., M.B., 15, York Terrace, Regent's Park, 

N.W. 

1894 Seymour, Admiral of the Fleet the Right Hon. Sir Edward Hobart, G.C.B., 

O.M., G.C.V.O., LL.D., Queen Anne's Mansions, St. James's Park, S.W. 

1898 Sheffield Free Public Libraries, Surrey Street, Sheffield. 
1847 Signet Library, 11, Parliament Square, Edinburgh. 

1890 Sinclair, Mrs. William Frederic, 102, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, S.W. 

J910 Skimming, E. H. B., Esq., 6, Cleveland Terrace, W. 

Il9(i)4 Smith, John Langford, Esq., H. B. M. Consular Service, China, c/o E. Green- 
wood, Esq., Frith Kuowl, Elstree. 

1906 Smith, J. de Berniere, Esq., 4, Gloucester Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W. 

1896 Smithers, F. Oldershaw, Esq., Dashwood House, 9, New Broad Street, E.G. 

1899 Societd Geografica Italiana, Via del Plebiscite 102, Rome. 
1847 Societe de Geographic, Boulevard St. Germain, 184, Paris. 

1909 Solomon, Hon. E. P., Minister of Public Works, Pretoria, Transvaal. 

1899 Soulsby, Basil H., Esq., Nat. Hist. Museum, Cromwell Road, S.W. 

1899 South African Public Library, Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town, South Africa. 

1904 Speight, Ernest Edwin, Esq., Slemdal, Christiania. 

1904 Stanton, John, Esq., High Street, Chorley, Lancasliire. 

1894 Stephens, Henry Charles, Esq., Cholderton Lodge, Cholderton, Salisbury. 

1847 Stevens, Son, and Stiles, Messrs. Henry, 39, Great Russell Street, W.C. 

-1847 Stockholm, Royal Library of (Kungl. Biblioteket), Sweden. 



XXXV 

1895 Stockton Public Library, Stockton, Cal., U.S.A. 

1905 Storer, Albert H.. Esq., Ridgefield, Ct., U.S.A. 

1890 Strachey, Lady, 67, Belsize Park Gardens, N.W. 

1882 Strassburg, Kaiserl. Universitiits u. Laudesbibliothek. 

1904 Suarez, Colonel Don Pedro (Bolivian Legation), Santa Cruz, 74, Compayne 

Gardens, N.W. 

1905 Sullivan. John Cotter, Esq., 301, West Commerce Street, San Antonio, 

Texas, U.S.A. 

1909 Swan, J. D. C, Esq., 

1908 Sydney, University of, New South Wales. 

1899 Sykes, Major Percy Molesworth, C.M.G., Queen's Bays, H.M.'s Consul General 
for Khorasan, Meshed, via Berlin and Askhabad, Transcaspia, Russia. 

1910 Syuion, The Hon. Sir Josiah, K.C.M.G., K.C., Gladstone Chambers, Adelaide. 



1899 Tangye, Richard Trevithick Gilbertstone, Esq., LL.B., 1, King's Bench Walk, 

Temple, E.C. 

1897 Tate, George Passman, Esq., Survey of India Department, Dehra Dun, U.P., 

India. 

1894 Taylor, Captain William Robert, 1. Daysbrook Road, Streatham Hill, S.W. 

1910 Teleki, Count Paul, Joszef -ten, 7, Budapest V. 

1899 Temple, Lieut.-Col. Sir Richard Caruac, Bart., C.I.E., The Nash, nr. Worcester. 

1894 Thomson, Basil Home, Esq., 81, Victoria Road. Kensington, W. 

1906 Thomson, Colonel Charles FitzGerald, late 7th Hussars, St. James's Club, 

106, Piccadilly, W. 

1896 Tighe, Walter Stuart, Esq., Rossanagh, Ashford, Co. Wickiow. 

1904 Todd, Commander George James, R.N., The Manse, Kingsbarns, Fife. 

1896 Toronto Public Library, Toronto, Ont., Canada. 

1890 Toronto University, Toronto, Out., Canada. 

1847 Travellers' Club, 106, Pall Mall, S.W. 

1899 Trinder, Arnold. Esq., River House, Walton-on-Thames. 

1899 Trinder, Oliver Jones, Esq., Cedar Grange, Caterham Valley, Surrey. 

1847 Trinity College, Cambridge. 

1847 Trinity House, The Hon. Corporation of. Tower Hill, E.C. 

1894 Troop, W. H., Esq., c/o Messrs. Black Bros, and C'\, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

1890 Turnbull, Alexander H., Esq., Elibank, Wellington, New Zealand. 

1902 Tweedy, Arthur H., Esq., Widmore Lodge, Widmore, Bromley, Kent. 



1847 United States Congress, Library of, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 

1899 United States National Museum (Library of), Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 

1847 United States Naval Academy Library, Annapolis, Md., U.S.A. 

1899 University of London, South Kensington, S.W. 

1847 Upsala University Library, Upsala, Sweden. 



1905 Van Norden, Theodore Langdon, Esq., 22, West 59th Street, New York City, 

U.S.A. 
1899 Vernon, Roland Venables, Esq., Colonial Ofifice, Downing Street, S.W. 



1899 Victoria, Public Library, Museums, and National Gallery of, Melbourne, 

Australia. 
1847 Vienna Imperial Library (K. K. Hof-Bibliothek), Vienna. 
1905 Vienna, K. K. Geographische Gesellschaft, WoUzeile 33, Vienna. 
1887 Vignaud, Henry, Esq., LL.D., 2, Rue de la Mairie, Bagneux (Seine\ France. 
1909 Villiers, J. A. J. de, Esq., British Museum. 



1904 Wagner, Herrn H. , and E. Debes, Geographische Anstalt, Briiderstrasse 23, 

Leipzig. 

1907 Waite, C. B., Esq., San Jnan de Letran 3, Mexico, D.F. 

1902 War Office, Mobilisation and Intelligence Library, Whitehall, S.W. 

1894 Warren, William R., Esq., 5, Nassau Street, New York City, U.S.A. 
1847 Washington, Department of State, D.C., U.S.A. 

1847 Washington, Library of Navy Depaitment, Washington, D.C.. U.S.A. 

1899 Watanabe, Chiharu, Esq., 4, Shimotakanawamachi, Shibaku. Tokyo, Japan. 

1899 Watkiuson Library, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A. 

1906 Webb, G. H. D., Esq., Ill, Clifton Hill, St. John's Wood, N.W. 

1899 Weld, Rev. George Francis, Hingham, Mass., U.S.A. (Weld wold, Santa 
Barbara, California). 

1903 Wells, Professor David Collins, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., U.S.A. 
1899 Westaway, Engineer Capt. Albert Ernest Luscombe, H.M.S. Dulc of 

Edinburgh, 5th Cruiser Squadron. 

1898 Westminster School, Dean's Yard, S.W. 

1904 Whall, William B., Esq., Board of Trade, Cardifif. 

1899 White, Dr. Henry, English Mission Hospital, Yezd, Persia, I'id Berlin. 
1893 Whiteway, Richard Stephen, Esq., Brownscombe, Shottei-mill, Surrey. 
1910 Wihlfahrt, E., Esq., Russo-Chinese Bank, Peking, China. 

1899 Williams, O. W., Esq., Fort Stockton, Texas. U.S.A. 

1899 Wilmanns, Frederick M., Esq., 89, Oneida Street, Milwaukee, Wise , U.S.A. 

1895 Wisconsin, State Historical Society of, Madison, Wise, U.S.A. 

1900 Woodford, Charles Mori'is, Esq., Government Residence, Tulagi, British 

Solomon Islands. 

1907 Woolf, Leonard Sidney, Esq., Hambantota, Ceylon. 

1899 Worcester, Massachusetts, Free Library, Worcester, Mass., U.S.A. 

1910 Worcester College, Oxford (Parker and Son, Oxford). 

1899 Wyndham, The Right Hon. George, M.P., 35, Park Lane, W. 



1847 Yale University, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A. 

1894 Young, Alfales, Esq., Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. 



1847 Zurich, Stadtbibliothek, Ziirich, Switzerland. 



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